


The Wolf in the Forest

by showmeyourtardis



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, MWPP, Marauders' Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-07-22
Packaged: 2019-05-03 12:30:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 25,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14569056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/showmeyourtardis/pseuds/showmeyourtardis
Summary: Remus runs off into the Forbidden Forest, which spurs a four person man-hunt for him. It turns out the Marauders, and Lily, aren't that great at navigating the dangers of the Forbidden Forest, and end up being chased, getting lost, and sharing secrets. It's a trip that they'll never forget, if they can survive it.





	1. Snape's Lie

**Author's Note:**

> The Marauders go on an adventure and relationships form and change. Hope you enjoy!

“It lives in the Forbidden Forest,” Severus Snape whispered theatrically. He cast an obvious glance at Remus Lupin, who was gripping the table so tightly his knuckles were turning white.

At the front of the classroom, Professor Binns droned on and on about the history of the wands used today. No one was listening to him though, they were all listening to Snape's tale of monsters. Sirius Black was one word away from turning Snape into a pile of ash. He was only stopped by James Potter's restraining hand on his arm, but there was anger growing in his eyes, too. Any second now, he'd release Sirius and join him in cursing Snape into oblivion.

“It's a disgusting beast, it killed a first year once,” Snape said.

Peter Pettigrew watched Remus's shaking shoulders with worry. He didn't believe the lies Snape was saying, but he was still creeped out. There was something about the way everyone was hanging on Snape's word, and how confident Snape sounded as he spoke.

“They say, if you hang at the edge of the forest late at night, you can hear it crying over the people it killed during its transformation,” Snape leaned forward, the class leaned with him, fully captivated. He lowered his voice, “But if you enter the forest on the full moon, you'll never be seen again, and you'll be just another reason for this monstrous werewolf to cry.”

James loosened his grip on Sirius's arm, and tightened his other hand on his wand. He couldn't listen to this for one more second. He was going to crush Snape to a pulp.

“And tonight, I'm going to go into the forest and kill the beast,” At this, Snape looked directly into Remus's eyes.

“ _Stupefy!_ ” Sirius shouted.

At the same time, James shouted, “ _Confringo!_ ”

The two spells combined on their way to Snape. They smacked into his chest and he shot backwards in his chair. He landed on the floor with a bang, startling Binns from his monologue. Snape didn't respond as his friend tapped his cheeks, he was unconscious. Sirius and James tucked their wands away, and touched knuckles proudly.

“Who did this?” Binns demanded, swooping towards Snape's unconscious form. He checked over Snape quickly.

“I did,” Sirius said.

“And-”

“No,” Sirius hissed, cutting off James. “We need the Quidditch cup.”

James narrowed his eyes, unhappy at letting Sirius take all the blame, but didn't say anything more.

“Why did you do this, Mr. Black?” Binns asked.

“I just hate him,” Sirius shrugged.

Professor Binns shook his head with disappointment, “Detention, this evening. Class dismissed.”

“Yes, Professor,” Sirius said. On his way out, he made sure to subtly step on Snape's outstretched hand.

Remus was shaking so much he could hardly pack up his stuff. He flung everything into his bag, and followed his friends out of the classroom. They fell into step easily, as they headed up the grand staircase.

“I'm going to kill him, I'm actually going to kill him dead,” Sirius ranted.

“Not if I get there first,” James said.

Remus sighed. He rolled his tensed shoulders to loosen them, “Forget him, he was just doing it to get a rise out of us.”

“You don't think he really believes there's a werewolf in the forest?” Peter asked.

They paused as the staircase moved ahead of them. The staircase they'd been planning on going up no longer lead to the Gryffindor common room. They waited for it to right itself, too annoyed to go the long way around.

“He's got no idea where I am, he's just poking around,” Remus said.

“Still... if Snape is going to the forest tonight, it might be a good chance to scare him,” Sirius said, glancing at James.

James looked thoughtful for a moment. He scratched his head with his wand, “Interesting.”

“No, it's not,” Remus said. He stepped between them, “He wasn't being serious. It's not even a full moon tonight.”

“He was being serious,” came Lily's voice. All four of them turned to find her walking up the staircase towards them. The other staircase had finally righted itself and she walked with them to the Gryffindor common room.

“How do you know?” Peter asked.

“Because he's been bragging to me about it for days,” Lily rolled her eyes, “He thinks there's an adult werewolf living in the forest, even when it's not a full moon. He's going to go there tonight, when the Quidditch match is on.”

“But why?” Remus asked.

“He hates werewolves. Didn't you hear him?” Lily said.

Remus let out an angry sigh and stormed ahead towards the Fat Lady. He said the password, and she protested at his anger but swung open anyway. He climbed through to the common room without waiting for his friends.

“If he is going there tonight, we could teach him a lesson,” Sirius said to James.

Before James could answer, Lily cut in, “In case you've forgotten, Black, you have detention, and Potter, you have a Quidditch match to win.”

“Are you planning on cheering me on?” James asked, grinning at Lily.

“Potter, let me say this as clearly as possible, I wouldn't care if you were transformed into a grub,” she said. She followed Remus and stormed through to the Gryffindor common room.

“So, that's a yes?” he called at her retreating form.

She didn't respond, and James frowned. He, Peter, and Sirius went into the common room. Lily had gone to her dorm, and Remus was nowhere to be found. They headed up to their own dorm to find him.

When they went into the dorm, they found Remus quietly seething on his bed. He was lay perfectly still, glaring up at the ceiling. Sirius perched next to him, and peered over him, blocking his view of the ceiling. Remus glared up at Sirius.

“Cheer up, moody,” Sirius said.

“Yeah, Snape will be in the Hospital Wing for a good couple of hours,” James said, throwing himself on his own bed.

Remus pushed himself into a sitting position, forcing Sirius to move backwards lest they crash heads.

“What if there is a werewolf in the forest?” he asked.

Sirius, James, and Peter shared a look. Peter turned to Remus, “But you're the only werewolf in Hogwarts, right?”

“Right,” Sirius said before Remus could answer, “You said it yourself, Snivellus was just trying to get a rise out of you, there's no werewolves in the Forbidden Forest.”

“Maybe that's why its forbidden,” Remus said.

“So what if there's a werewolf in there? What could you do?” James asked.

“I could go talk to them, I could tell them about the Shrieking Shack.”

“No, no, no,” Sirius said, “This is insane, Moony. You're not going into the Forbidden Forest to find non-existent werewolves.”

“Why?”

“Because you're supposed to be the good one!” Sirius exclaimed, “You're supposed to stop _us_ doing stupid things, not the other way around.”

“I think what Padfoot is trying to say is, Snivellus is a dick and you can't go into the forest tonight because it's the Quidditch final.”

Remus folded his arms across his chest, but he nodded his head, “All right, I won't go into the forest tonight.”

“Tonight?” Peter asked.

“Good catch, Wormtail. Moony, you know that's not gonna fly,” Sirius said.

Remus narrowed his eyes at him, “I won't go into the forest, _at all_.”

“Right, good, now I need to get to Quidditch practise. I'll see you all in the crowd, yeah?”

James stood up and grabbed his broom. He pinned them all with a severe look, reminding them of the one time they'd missed the match and James had been angry enough to _silencio_ them for a full day. In their defence, they had been stuck in a secret passage on the seventh floor.

He pressed his knuckles against Sirius's waiting fist, “Nice curse today, by the way.”

“Not so bad yourself, Prongs.”

James left the dorm.

Sirius turned to Remus, and was disappointed to see him thinking. He recognised that look, it was the same face he had when they were planning a prank and Remus was trouble-shooting. His brow was furrowed, and his lips were pressed together.

“Moony, stop, I can see you thinking.”

“But what if there is a werewolf in the forest?”

Peter watched them from his own bed. He seemed just as interested in the answer as Remus, and Sirius wanted to tell him off for not helping. Instead, he focused on Remus.

“You'd know if there was a werewolf in the forest, wouldn't you be able to sense it or something?” Sirius asked.

“Like a werewolf alarm,” Peter said.

Remus looked at them like they were idiots, “There's no _werewolf alarm_.”

“Well, you'd still know. We'd hear the howling for a start, Merlin knows Hogsmeade has heard yours,” Sirius said.

“Except we're all in the shack on the full moon, so we wouldn't hear it,” Remus said.

“You're forgetting that we haven't always been animagi. We spent the first few years here in Hogwarts without you, and we didn't hear howling.”

“You don't get it,” Remus said, standing up from his bed.

He started pacing around the dorm. Sirius could see the beginning of panic setting into Remus. He was about to spiral and Sirius needed to stop it quickly. He stood up and blocked Remus's pacing. He grabbed his shoulders, keeping him still.

“Moony, listen to me, there is no werewolf in the Forbidden Forest. If you're that worried, we'll ask Dumbledore tomorrow.”

Remus looked out the window, towards the forest. Sirius shook his shoulders gently to get his attention back.

“No, Moony, I can see you thinking about it. Don't go into the forest, it's not safe and I'm not chasing after you,” Sirius said.

“I don't need you to chase after me,” Remus said.

Sirius shook Remus harder, “No, don't. Don't go in there.”

“Are you scared of the forest, Padfoot?”

“There's monsters in there...” Sirius said.

“There's a monster in here.”

“You're not a monster, though.”

“I am,” Remus shrugged out of Sirius's reach. Before Sirius could grab him again, Remus aimed his wand at him, “I'm sorry about this. _Petrificus totalus.”_

Sirius managed to look angry a second before the spell kicked in. His arms and legs locked together, and he fell backwards. Remus caught him before he crashed to the floor and gently lowered him down. He leaned over Sirius, who could still see him.

“I'm so sorry, but if there's another werewolf, I've got to find them.”

“Moony?” Peter said, from his bed.

“Wormtail.” Remus stood up to look at him.

“I won't follow you, I won't release him, I won't even tell Prongs. Don't curse me...” Peter quivered on his bed, “Please.”

Remus took pity on him. He knew Peter wouldn't follow him into the forest alone. Even if he waited for Sirius to loosen up, or went to get James, Remus would be deep into the forest by then. They'd never find him.

He tucked his wand away, and turned back to Sirius. Crouching down, he brushed Sirius's hair out of his eyes, “Sorry, mate, I'll let you throw me into the lake tomorrow.”

Sirius's frozen face glared back at him. Remus stood up, and cast one final look at Peter. He pressed his finger to his lips. Peter nodded quickly, and Remus left the dorm.

Luck was with him, and he managed to make it onto the grounds without running into anyone that would stop him. On his way to the forest, he passed the Quidditch pitch where James was practising, far too busy to know about the battle that had been lost in the dorm.


	2. The Captain's Sacrifice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter suffers Sirius's wrath and James has to sacrifice a lot for his friends.

Peter stared at Sirius's still body for ages. He felt like hours, then days, then weeks had passed, and Sirius had still not moved. He knew Sirius would be furious when the charm released, but the truth was, he wasn't as scary as Remus was. Peter was scared of Remus.

Not the Remus that struggled with Care of Magical Creatures or helped him with his Defence homework. He was scared of the Remus that turned into a werewolf once a month. He could kill Peter if he wanted. Sirius _probably_ wouldn't kill him, so Peter didn't release him.

He was scared of Remus, and he'd suffer Sirius's wrath to avoid Remus's.

Eventually, after what felt like forever, Sirius's finger twitched. Peter scrambled off his bed and crawled next to Sirius. He watched and he waited. Slowly, Sirius reanimated, like a statue coming to life.

He turned on Peter as soon as he could, “You left me frozen!”

“I'm sorry,” Peter stammered.

“Because of you, Moony is going to get himself killed in the forest!” Sirius snapped. He shoved Peter away and clambered to his feet. His legs were shaky with disuse, and he used the bed posts to keep himself up.

“I'm sorry! Maybe we can get Prongs and-”

“No, we don't have time for that now.” Sirius pushed away from the bed.

“But-”

“I'll have to go to the forest to get him. Everyone's at the Quidditch match, no one will notice.”

“You're supposed to be in detention,” Peter said.

“Fuck detention!” Sirius shouted, “Moony's going to be eaten by a giant.”

“There are giants in the forest?” Peter squeaked.

“I don't know! Probably! I have to go.”

“But wait,” Peter grabbed Sirius's robes when he went to leave, “You can't go alone! I'll get Prongs and we'll-”

“For Merlin's sakes, Wormtail! You're the reason I have to go alone, get Prongs if you want but I'm not waiting.” Sirius pulled free of Peter's hands. He pulled out his wand and aimed it at Peter's nose, who trembled underneath it. “Oh, and this is for leaving me on the floor.”

* * *

James threw the quaffle at the goal post, and it flew past the keeper easily, straight through the hoop. He bowed on his broom, and the keeper stuck his middle finger up at him.

“Need to up your game, mate,” James shouted, before flying off to get the quaffle.

On his way to the ground, where the quaffle lay, James saw Lily watching him from the Gryffindor stands. She didn't stand out, her red hair blended with the red and gold décor of the stand, but James had been keeping an eye out for her. Practise was almost over, but she'd shown up before the match began, and he took that as a good sign.

Grinning from ear-to-ear, he abandoned the quaffle and flew towards the stand, gesturing for his team to keep practising. Lily pretended to be reading a book as he got close. He drifted gently in front of her.

“You're here early,” he said, “Did you decide to come and cheer me on then?”

“I'm not here for you,” she said, without looking up from her book.

“Who are you here for?” James flew behind her, and faced the Quidditch pitch.

He watched his team mates practise, preparing to play one of the most important games of their lives. If they won this one, James would be the best Gryffindor captain they'd had in years.

He lowered his broom so he was practically level with the seats behind Lily, and pointed over her shoulder, “Tom Abbey?”

As he pointed, Tom took a bludger to the face and barely held onto his broom. James was sure he heard the tiniest laugh from Lily.

He flew in front of her again, “He is quite handsome, and that broken nose will be a beautiful addition to his face. You should ask him out.”

“Are you setting me up with your team mates?”

“I'm just trying to figure out who you're here for, since you're _obviously_ not here for me,” James said, grinning smugly.

“I'm not here for you,” she finally looked up at him, and James felt his heart skip a beat.

He wanted to pull her onto the broom and fly her around Hogwarts. He'd go high enough to make her grab his waist, and drift onto the astro tower, where he'd-

“Potter?” Lily said.

“What?”

“I said, shouldn't you follow your team?” Lily pointed across the pitch, where the Gryffindor team had dismounted and were heading to the team quarters.

James watched them go, and looked at his watch. Ten minutes until the match, the stands were beginning to fill. James had to float higher to allow people to get past him. He drifted back down to Lily as soon as he could.

“I'm going to go, but first I want you to admit you came for me,” he said.

“I just like Quidditch.”

“Admit it,” James said.

“I'll make you a deal,” Lily closed her book and stood up. She got as close to James as she could.

James floated closer, drifting until he was eye level with her. If he leaned on his broom he could kiss her, and for one sparkling moment he thought that was what she was going to do.

Instead, she pushed on the end of his broom, “If you win, I'll tell you who I was really here for.”

James stopped his broom from spinning, and grinned at her. He couldn't keep the grin off his face, even if he wanted to be cool. There was the tiniest hint of a smile on Lily's face, and James wanted to keep it for himself.

“I've got a better offer,” James leaned on his broom, so close he could smell her coconut shampoo. His heart skipped another beat when Lily tilted her head upwards, he was sure he’d go into cardiac arrest soon. He lowered his voice, “If we win, you give me a kiss.”

Lily laughed. She pushed harder on his broom, sending him spinning, “You have to win first.”

James flew backwards, keeping his eyes on her, “Is that a yes?”

She didn't say anything, but she watched him fly backwards right up until he disappeared into the Gryffindor team tent. He dismounted his broom with a bounce in his step. He clapped his hands to get his teams attention.

“Okay team, we need to win this match. I won't tell you what, but I have a _lot_ riding on this game. If we win-”

“Prongs,” someone hissed from outside the tent.

James glanced at the fluttering tent walls. That voice had sounded like Peter, but James couldn't imagine what Peter would want this close to a match. James ignored the voice, he'd probably just imagined it.

He cleared his throat, his team watched him eagerly, “If we win, I'll be the happiest person in Hogwarts and I'll probably bake you all a massive-”

“Prongs!” Peter's voice hissed again.

“What!” James shouted.

His team looked at him like he'd gone mad. He removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He shook himself, Peter could wait, this was the most important match of his life. Lily would kiss him if they won, and he was going to win if it killed him.

He put his hand out, and everyone else put their hands on his, “Gryffindor on three. One, two, three.”

“Gryffindor!” the team shouted. They picked up their brooms and prepared to leave the tent.

“Prongs!” Peter hissed again.

James waved his team off, “I'll see you out there.”

They looked nervously between themselves, before filing out onto the pitch. James grabbed at the fluttering walls of the tent until he found the gap. Peter was stood just outside the tent, and James grabbed him, pulling him inside. Pimples littered Peter’s forehead, and if he squinted, James was sure they spelt out the letters SB.

“What the hell do you want?”

“They're gone!” Peter said.

“What?”

“They're gone!”

“What do you mean?”

“They're gone!” Peter repeated.

James clapped a hand to Peter’s mouth, silencing him, “Okay, Wormtail, listen to me. In a second, I'm going to ask what happened and you better not say _they're gone,_ got it?”

Peter nodded, and James removed his hand, “What happened?”

Peter's words came rushing out in a tumble of syllables, “Remus cursed Sirius and ran to the forest, and Sirius woke up and ran after him, and I ran here, and now I don't know what to do, and Sirius said there's giants in the forest and they're going to get eaten and I don't know-”

“Wormtail!” James cut him off, with annoyance, “Are you saying Moony and Padfoot have gone to the forbidden forest?”

Peter nodded. James glanced back to the pitch where he could hear the announcer wondering where he was. He could picture Lily in the stands, waiting for him to come onto the pitch. He could imagine kissing her after they won the match, scooping her onto the front of his broom as the audience cheered.

“We're going to win the Quidditch cup,” James whined.

Peter stared at him.

“Lily was going to kiss me.”

Peter’s lower lip trembled. James sighed. He couldn't leave his two best friends to be killed by a giant, even though they deserved it for stealing his cup and his kiss. He would save them and then kill them. Yes, the giant didn't deserve to kill them, James did.

He mounted his broom, “Get on, and don't hold my waist.”

Peter mounted the broom behind James, and held onto the broom instead of onto James. With a final glance back at the pitch, James flew through the gap in the tent and round the Quidditch pitch. He didn't look over at the Gryffindor stands as he left, he didn't want to see Lily.

Frowning, he focused on looking for Remus and Sirius. He flew over the forest, looking down hoping to catch a glimpse of either of them. He wasn't sure whether the rumours of a giant were true or not, but they were definitely more likely than a second werewolf. Whether they were true or not, the forbidden forest was dangerous, and even he felt chills as they drifted high above the trees.


	3. Academic Curiosity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily sees James and Peter leave the Quidditch pitch, and runs into a surprise in the forest.

Lily was sure she'd just seen James and Peter fly past the pitch, but that couldn't be right. She'd pretty much just told James she'd kiss him if he won, he wouldn't leave after that, would he? She leaned forward in her seat to see the Gryffindor Quidditch team waiting on the pitch. They were one man down and just as confused as everyone else.

The Ravenclaw team was already mounted up and looking impatiently at the Gryffindor team. The Gryffindor keeper headed for their team tent. While she waited for the keeper to come back with James, Lily scanned the Gryffindor stands for Remus and Peter but couldn't see either of them. Sirius would be in detention, but that didn't explain where the other two were.

Lily had a sudden feeling the Marauders were up to something. It was a feeling she got a lot, and she’d grown to trust her gut.

The team tent opened and the keeper came running out. He held his arms out in explanation – James was nowhere to be found. That settled it, Lily stood up and left the Gryffindor stand. She didn't have time to go get her own broom, she'd have to walk.

Once out of the stand, she stood by the Quidditch pitch and stared at the forest. She had a feeling that was where they'd gone. Had they gone to trap Snape like she'd heard them discussing?

That didn't make sense though, they knew Snape was still in the hospital wing. Either way, she wanted to find out what was more important to James than her kiss. She pulled out her wand just in case, and ran off to the forest.

At the edge of the forest, she hesitated. She could hear Snape's words echoing in her head.

_If you enter the forest... you'll never be seen again._

She wasn't scared of werewolves, it wasn't a full moon, after all. She was, however, worried about the other things that lived in the forest.

The thought of turning back and seeing if Gryffindor played the match with one less person entered her head, but she pushed it away. She wasn't a coward after all, and she was a sixth year, she was ready for this. She was excellent at Defence. Sure, she was no Remus but she was still pretty good.

She walked into the forest. The grass beneath her feet dried up with each step, until she was deep into the forest and walking on dirt and fallen twigs. She wished she'd brought her walking boots, her shoes weren't made for walking over this kind of rough terrain.

A hidden bramble stalk wrapped around her ankle and she fell. Her knee scraped against the rough bark of a tree root, breaking the skin. She stood up, sweeping her robe back in anger. When she looked down at her knee, she noticed just how dark it had gotten around her. She could barely see the blood dribbling from her knee.

“ _Lumos_ ,” she whispered, almost afraid to speak any louder.

When her wand lit up, she relaxed a little and swiped her robe sleeve against her cut knee. She sat back on the dirt floor and looked around. Her wand lit the area around her, and the tiny specks of sun that managed to penetrate the canopy only offered dim light.

The edge of the forest was no longer visible. She was deeper than she realised, and she'd found no sign of James or the others. She'd made a huge mistake coming here. No one knew she was here, the Marauders would do what they’d planned to do and return to the castle with no idea she’d followed them. If she turned around, would she find the edge again or would she inadvertently wander deeper?

Lily had just made up her mind to head back the way she'd come, when the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. Something was watching her, she was sure she heard deep panting. She scrambled to her feet, her nails digging into the dirt as she did. She spun in a slow circle, shining her wand at the dark forest around her. The light bounced off a pair of huge eyes watching her.

She dropped her wand in fear and the light went out.

“Shit,” she hissed.

A twig snapped close to her, too close to be coincidence. Her hands scrabbled across the dirt, digging for her wand. She touched gooey fungus and hard rocks. A growl made her freeze for a second. Another growl rolled out of the beast in front of her. She searched for her wand desperately. Her hand closed around it.

“ _Lumos_ ,” she said.

Her wand lit up, and the beast's face was suddenly visible right in front of her. It was a huge black dog, reminiscent of the grim. She cowered backwards, crawling across the forest floor. The dog, if that's even what it was, growled at her, saliva pooling out of its mouth.

Lily backed into a tree, and used it to pull herself to her feet. She kept her wand aimed at the dog. Its shaggy black fur shone in the wand light, its eyes watched her with a strange focus.

They'd practised non-verbal spells a few times. Lily hoped and prayed that she'd be able to do one now. Without speaking, she twisted her wand as subtly as possible. The dog was watching her and not her wand, which she hoped would work in her favour. She thought about cutting the dog, making it bleed.

She flicked her wand just as the dog lunged. It yelped as the spell hit it. She stayed pressed against the tree. The dog whined. In a flash, it darted off, limping slightly.

For some reason, Lily chased after it. Her wand light bounced as she ran, catching on trees, occasionally hitting the dog and making Lily change direction to follow it. The dog disappeared around a giant tree trunk, and Lily followed.

She crashed into something and went falling to the floor. The thing she'd hit gasped and she landed on its chest. It felt like a person but Lily's eyes were squeezed closed and she was too afraid to look. It could be anything that she was lay on, and the longer she avoided looking the safer she felt.

“Uh, Evans?” Sirius asked. Lily gasped at the sound of his voice, “As much as I like you being on top of me, I think you should get up.”

Lily crawled off Sirius and stood up. She helped him up, and lit her wand again. His hair was covered in leaves and he had a smudge of dirt on his nose. Lily imagined she looked similar, she'd felt twigs and branches rip at her clothes and skin and knew she was a mess.

Sirius plucked a twig off her shoulder as though reading her mind, “Didn't peg you as an outdoors girl.”

“Where'd the dog go?” she asked.

Sirius arched an eyebrow, “Dog? I didn't see a dog.”

“It ran around here, you must have seen it. I hurt her, she had a limp.”

“She?” Sirius said. He stepped back from Lily and brushed dirt off his robe, “I'm pretty sure it was a he.”

“I thought you didn't see it?” Lily said.

“I didn't,” Sirius leaned against the large tree trunk.

“You must have seen it, it ran around here. It was black and dirty, it looked like the grim,” Lily said, her wide eyes sparkling in the light.

“Ouch,” Sirius muttered.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Sirius said. He lit up his own wand and aimed at the dark forest, as though he could see all the creatures in there watching him. “What are you doing here?”

“I saw James and Peter leave the Quidditch pitch, I thought they were coming here.”

“You followed them?”

“What are _you_ doing here?” Lily asked to avoid answering Sirius's question.

“Uh... that's a difficult question to answer,” Sirius said.

“Why do I have the feeling you're hiding something, Black?” Lily demanded.

“Female intuition?” Sirius offered.

He avoided meeting her eye, instead looking up to the top of the tree he was leaning on. Lily glanced up at the tree too, imaging the dog lay above them waiting to pounce.

Could dogs climb trees? Lily didn't know, and she didn't really want to find out.

She looked away from the tree and back at Sirius. She'd followed James and Peter into the forest and found Sirius wandering in here alone. That didn't answer any of the questions Lily had. If anything, it gave her more questions.

She pointed her wand at Sirius's nose, and he looked at it with wide eyes, “Tell me what you know.”

“Evans, sweetheart, I think you should calm down.”

“Don't call me sweetheart, Black.” Lily advanced on Sirius and he limped away from the tree.

Lily looked down at his leg. There was a rip in his trouser leg, and she could see a long cut bleeding from his shin. She stared at it. Slow realisation spread on her face, and Sirius gulped.

“Wait, I... I hit the dog there,” Lily said. Sirius glanced down at his leg and quickly hid it with his robe. Lily stared at him, “Why do you have a cut exactly where I hit the dog?”

“Uh... coincidence?” Sirius offered. At Lily's severe look, Sirius ran a hand through his hair nervously.

“Black.”

“I wasn't going to tell you this, but I guess the time has come...” Sirius glanced around the forest, “I fell. I fell into a rocky ditch, and my leg scraped down the rocks and I cut myself. I wasn't gonna tell you 'cause it was really embarrassing. Yeah, I fell and cut myself, and... are you buying any of this?”

“No, but I admire your commitment,” Lily said.

Sirius swiped a hand through his hair again. He moved his robe, revealing his wound. He crouched down, and Lily watched him aim his wand light at the cut. She couldn't stop staring. How had he conveniently gotten a cut in the exact same place she'd hit the dog?

“ _Aquamenti_ ,” Sirius said. A spurt of water washed the grit and dirt out of his wound. He glanced up at Lily, “We haven't all mastered non-verbal– oops.”

“What? How did you know I used a... Sirius Black, you better tell me what you know, right now!”

“Okay, okay, fuck.”

Sirius stood up and limped over to the tree. He used the trunk to guide himself down onto the floor. He stretched his injured leg out in front of him. Lily walked over and stood in front of him. A breeze picked up from somewhere in the forest and made her shiver in her robe. How long had she been in the forest now? Had the Quidditch game been played and won by now?

“You might want to sit down,” Sirius said, gesturing at the dirt floor as though it were a velvet chaise longue. When Lily didn't move, he sighed, “This is hard to explain so I'm just going to spit it out.”

Sirius paused, and made no attempt to spit it out. Lily waited patiently, and then impatiently. She tapped her foot, “You know, usually when people say I'm going to spit it out, they actually _spit it out.”_

“I'm the dog.”

“What?” Lily asked.

“I'm the dog. The big, beautiful, not-at-all-grim-like dog that growled at you, was me.”

“But... why did you growl?”

“ _That's_ your question? I just told you I'm a dog, and all you ask is why I growled at you?”

“I stand by my question,” Lily said, jutting out her chin.

“I growled at you to scare you out of the forest, it's not safe here. There's at least one werewolf in here.”

“You're here.”

“Yes, Lily, but I'm an idiot, you're supposed to be smart.”

Lily sank to the floor, and stretched out her injured leg next to Sirius's. Her cut knee seemed so insignificant next to Sirius's cut shin. He smiled at her, when she placed their injuries side-by-side.

“Snap,” she said. After a pause, she said, “Are you really the dog?”

“Do you want me to show you?”

“Maybe.”

Sirius picked up his wand and pressed the tip to his head. Before Lily's eyes, he transformed into the very same shaggy black dog that had growled at her before. This time, though, she was less scared than she had been. Sirius – the dog – didn't seem as big as it had before.

She put out her hand, and the dog crept towards her. It sniffed her hand, and licked her. She yanked her hand away, squealing, and rubbed it clean on her robe. Sirius transformed back to human, laughing.

“Was it necessary to lick me?” she demanded.

“I stand by my decision.”

“So, you're a dog,” Lily said, as Sirius sat back down.

“Yep. James is a majestic stag, and Peter is a less-majestic rat.”

“P... Peter is a rat?” Lily asked with barely veiled disgust.

“Yes.”

“And Remus is...” Lily started.

“Ah,” Sirius said, “That's a little different.”

“What? Is he like a fish, or something?”

“A fish?” Sirius shook his head at Lily like she was being silly, “C'mon, Evans, how would that even work?”

“Well, I don't know!” Lily said. She folded her arms across her chest, “Why did you become an animagus?”

“Academic curiosity,” Sirius said, “Now come on, let’s go find James.”

He stood up and offered his hand to Lily, who took it and pulled herself to her feet. They used their wand light to guide them as they headed further into the forest. Sirius limped next to Lily and she couldn't help feeling a little guilty about it. She tried to forget the fact that he, and the others, were animagi, because her brain wasn't in the right place to deal with that right now.

 


	4. Trolls and Pigs Are Not Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James and Peter hit the ground running, Remus walks in circles, and Sirius and Lily bond, briefly.

James and Peter were circling above the forest like very large, confused raptors. The wind was threatening to knock them off, and the sun was beginning to set. They hadn't seen the slightest sign of Sirius or Remus, and they were beginning to worry.

“Wormtail, for the last time, stop holding on so tight,” James said, prying Peter's hands off from around his waist.

“We're too high,” Peter said.

“Can you see them?” James asked, ignoring Peter's arms when they wrapped back around him.

“No.”

The canopy was too thick to see into the forest. James couldn't help but think that had been done on purpose. They'd never find Remus or Sirius from above the forest, they had to go underneath the canopy.

James tipped the broom forward, and cringed when he felt Peter slide closer to him. He reminded himself that he was doing this to stop his other two friends from dying. The broom tilted downwards and they headed towards a small gap in the canopy. They ducked below the treeline, and darkness engulfed them. It was like the sun had disappeared completely, and in its place a chill had set in. They flew around the trees, weaving in and out of branches.

Peter grabbed James's waist suddenly, knocking James off-kilter. He twisted the broom but he was too slow, a tree had loomed up in front of them. They crashed into the tree, and fell from the broom. Peter and James landed on the dirt floor of the forest in a heap.

James pushed Peter away from him, “My broom!”

Above them, stuck firmly between two branches, was James's broom. It didn't look like it would fall out on its own. In fact, it looked very, very stuck. James stared up at it. He thought back to the Quidditch match that may or may not be won. He was unsure if it had even been played, but he knew one thing for sure, Lily had noticed his absence. Whatever she thought of that, he was sure it wouldn't lead to a kiss.

“If you weren't my only surviving friend, I would kill you, Wormtail,” James said. When no response came, he turned around, “Wormtail?”

Peter was frozen to the spot, his whole body vibrating in fear. He lifted his arm slowly, to point at the mass of grass in front of them. James followed his arm, rubbing his sleeve on his glasses to clear them. He looked at the grass. He looked at Peter, and then back to the grass.

“What?”

Peter just pointed at the small hill, and James rolled his eyes. He pulled out his wand and lit the end. The light landed on the small hill, and James froze. It wasn't a small hill at all, nor was it a mass of grass. It was a green-skinned, three-toed, sleeping forest troll. James stepped backwards. He grabbed the back of Peter's robes and dragged him backwards.

They crept backwards as quietly as they could. James didn't loosen his grip on Peter, and he didn't take his eyes off the troll. It was curled up like an animal, sleeping on a bed of leaves. They were so focused on the troll, they didn't watch where they were going.

James fell over a lump, and landed on his arse. Peter managed to avoid being pulled over, and spun to find James. From the light of his wand, James watched Peter's face go from scared to terrified. Beneath him, he felt the lump breathe. Horrified, James turned to see what he'd landed on.

He was sat on the back of forest troll. This one was much smaller than the first, and James suspected it was a juvenile. He was stuck. He couldn't move off the troll without waking it, and he couldn't wake this juvenile without waking the adult.

“P-P-Prongs?” Peter asked.

“It's okay, Peter,” James said, but he knew he didn't believe him.

James took a deep breath. He moved as slowly as he could, moving his right leg first, then his left leg, until both feet were on the floor. The troll moved beneath him. It was times like these when James realised why he was a Gryffindor. He slid along the troll, until he could almost stand up. He was so close to being free, so close to getting off this stupid troll.

“James...” Peter said.

Before James could answer, he felt hot, wet breath on the back of head. He didn't need to move to know what it was. A third troll, probably the other parent, wasn't such a deep sleeper.

“RUN!” James shouted, and he leapt off the young troll without a second thought.

Peter ran after him and the two of them sprinted through the forest as fast as they could. They weaved through trees and leapt over roots. James would've become the stag if he had chance but he couldn't slow down. The entire forest was shaking with every step the trolls took. The three trolls were chasing the two of them, they'd never outrun them. They had to split up, but James knew it was a stupid idea.

Still, it was there only chance, “We have to split up.”

“What?” Peter panted.

“We split up, run separate ways,” James said, through heaving breaths, “It'll confuse them, they might give up.”

“But we'll be alone!” Peter protested.

“I know, I know, but I'll find you. I promise.”

“No, James, no,” Peter said.

“NOW!” James shouted, and darted to the left. Despite his protests, James knew Peter hadn't followed him.

James leapt over a fallen log and kept running. The thunderous footsteps of the trolls were becoming more and more distant. It had worked, James had lost them. He worried about Peter, though. What if the trolls had ignored him in favour of Peter?

Crouching behind a tree, James waited for the trolls footsteps to disappear. As soon as he thought it was safe, he darted out from behind the tree, trying as best as he could to retrace his steps. He moved quickly but quietly. He hoped he wasn't getting lost, praying for some kind of miraculous connection with his broom that would guide him back there.

* * *

Remus finally admitted he'd made a mistake. A huge mistake, to be specific. He'd acted impulsively, but he hadn't been able to control himself. The thought of another werewolf had captivated him. There could be another creature at Hogwarts that understood his pain, he couldn't ignore it.

But now, after walking in what felt like circles, he realised Snape had been a liar and Sirius had been right. He would have to apologise profusely, if he ever found his way out of the forest. Maybe he'd do his Defence homework for a month, or buy him a drink the next time they went to Hogsmeade. He was sure Sirius would come up with some kind of repayment.

Remus looked up at the canopy as though he could follow the sun, but he couldn't even see it. He was navigating by wand light and sheer luck. Though, he wasn't sure his luck was working.

He wasn't as scared as he thought he'd be. The only living creatures he'd come across were bowtruckles, and they'd ran from him because they smelt the stench of werewolf on him. Maybe he really was the scariest monster in the forest. He strolled onwards, using the light from his wand to avoid tripping over brambles and rocks. He kept walking, hoping at some point he'd come to either a werewolf or an exit. He wasn't bothered about which.

* * *

“Hey, I just realised, you avoided my question,” Sirius said as he walked through the forest with Lily.

She hopped over a fallen branch, “Which one?”

“Why did you follow James? I thought you wouldn't care if he became a grub?”

Lily's cheeks tinged pink, and she stared at the floor as they walked, “Don't make me say it.”

Sirius grinned at her, “Say what?”

“I like him, okay?” she said, and Sirius burst into laughter. She glared at him until he stopped, and she continued, “He's a tosser, but there's something about him. The way he plays Quidditch, and plans a prank, and makes terrible potions.”

Lily giggled and Sirius grinned. He was so going to lord this over James later. He knew Lily liked him, James would give anything to have that knowledge. Sirius stumbled over a rock and turned back to glower at it.

Lily was too dreamy to notice, “He's so funny, and so kind. And, Merlin, he's so passionate about Quidditch, it's ridiculous. I don't know, I guess there's more to James than that arrogant face he wears.”

“Merlin,” Sirius said, laughing, “You sound like me in first year.”

“You had a crush on James in first year?” Lily asked, prodding Sirius's ribs.

Sirius ran a hand through his hair, “When I was sorted into Gryffindor I lost everything, and suddenly James was there, defending me from Slytherins and making me laugh when I thought I couldn't.”

Lily was watching him, and Sirius realised he was probably feeding her crush on James.

“He'd never understand what he did, because his parents are the nicest people on earth,” Sirius continued, “But he saved my life. He's my brother.”

“You know, for a second I thought you were going to tell me you loved him.”

“No, not him.”

“Not him?” Lily asked.

Sirius winked at her, “You'll need to do more to unlock that secret.”

Lily came to a halt. She flung out her arm to stop Sirius. He followed her gaze and saw a small black creature snuffling along the ground ahead of them. If Sirius didn't know he was the dog, he'd be convinced this was what Lily saw.

“What is that?” Sirius asked.

“I don't know,” Lily whispered.

Lily stepped forward, and the creature startled. It jerked its head and looked at them with three eyes, reflected in the light. It was like a hairy pig, and Sirius had never seen anything like it. He'd never even seen it in books.

“Lily,” Sirius warned.

“It looks friendly.”

“Are you an idiot?”

Lily didn't respond. She held her hands up in surrender to the creature, and stepped ever closer. Sirius reached for her but she was too far away now. He didn't like this animal, it made the hairs on his arms stand up.

“Lily,” Sirius whispered.

She stepped closer to the animal, her foot snapped a dry twig. The creature startled and ran. Lily, for some ungodly reason, chased after it. Sirius burst into a sprint to follow her, but she was faster. She was agile, and she weaved in and out of trees, her red hair catching the light of Sirius's wand.

He wondered if this is how scared she felt when she'd chased him through the forest.

“Lily, stop!” Sirius called.

She didn't stop, and even as Sirius skidded after her he began to lose sight of her. She scrambled through a bush and she was gone.

“LILY!” Sirius shouted, pushing through the same bush. It clawed and scratched at his sleeves and arms but he eventually emerged.

Lily was nowhere to be seen, he lifted his wand higher, casting the glow further, but she and the creature were gone.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Sirius said, kicking angrily at the ground. He was going to throttle Remus if he ever found him.

If Sirius lived to get out of this forest, he was going to burn it down.

But before all of that, before he could even go looking for Remus, Sirius had to find Lily again. He transformed into Padfoot, knowing his sense of smell might lead him to her.

On four legs, he trotted through the forest, sniffing the ground. He caught the scent of coconut, and knew it was her shampoo thanks to James's obsession with it. He followed the scent for as long as he could. At one point, he had to crawl through a bramble bush, and he made a mental note to punish Lily by telling James all about her feelings.

He followed the scent, it got stronger and stronger, and then it was gone. Sirius paused, sniffing the air, but the coconut scent just disappeared. He ran back to where it was strong, and followed it as best as he could, but it always lead to the same point.

He stood in a small clearing, the first patch of grass he'd seen since entering the forest. He sniffed the grass, burying his nose as deep as it would go and disturbing a beetle as it crawled across the ground. Sirius lay on the ground and whined. The scent was gone, it disappeared right in this patch, as though Lily had floated off into the sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like the story, please comment :)


	5. James Potter and the Really Good Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James has a good day, Lily does something she doesn't really regret

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to upload two chapters today cos you love you guys that much

James was having the best day of his life. He could argue that today had been better than any other day, despite the fact that he had missed the most important Quidditch match of his Captain career, lost the chance to kiss Lily Evans, and been chased by three trolls. It was still a great day, because as he drifted around searching the forest floor for Peter, or Remus, or Sirius, he instead found the last person he'd expected to be here.

He found Lily Evans.

She was stood in the only patch of grass in this entire forest, like some kind of woodland siren. She looked very confused, almost lost, as she spun around and around searching for something. James tipped his broom forward until he headed downwards towards her.

“Lily Evans,” James said.

“Potter,” she said, though she didn't seem at all surprised to see him here.

He floated at eye-level, “Hey, if you were a forest siren, dressed as Lily, to lure me to my very excruciating death, you'd tell me, right?”

“Probably.”

“And are you?”

“Probably not,” she smiled.

“Good. Need a lift?” he twisted in the broom until he floated horizontally next to her.

She cast one final glance over her shoulder, biting her lip. He was about to ask what was wrong, when she shrugged, and climbed up behind him.

“Hold on tight,” he said.

She didn't need telling twice, and she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. It was very different to the feel of Peter's arms around his waist, and James decided it was much better.

Yes, he would only ever ride his broom with Lily as a passenger, no one else. Not even Sirius.

This time, when James saw a giant tree looming up towards them, he was ready. He swerved around the trunk, and found the biggest, barest branch he could. He came to a steady stop next to the branch, and offered Lily a hand to help her off. Her hand was soft and warm, despite the slight chill in the air, and she hopped from his broom to the branch expertly.

James followed her lead, and disembarked a little less daintily. He sat down on the branch, which hadn't even wavered under their weight, and swung his legs over the edge. His broom moved like an obedient dog, and floated underneath his feet, acting as a foot rest.

Lily sat next to him, closer than necessary given the immense size of the branch, and swung her legs over the edge. James noticed she'd grazed her knee.

James fidgeted with the bark, missing his pet snitch. He picked and pulled at the bark of the branch, and asked, “If you're not a forest siren, what are you doing here?”

“I followed you.”

James stopped picking the bark to turn and grin at Lily, “Really?”

“You can wipe that smug look off your face, Potter. I merely came to ensure Pettigrew didn't have you under the imperious curse.”

“Huh?” James asked, stupidly. He silently cursed himself for sounding so gormless.

Lily didn't notice his internal turmoil, “Well, given that you abandoned me moments after I promised to kiss you if you won the most important match of the year, I figured something fishy was going on.”

“Nothing fishy,” James dropped pieces of bark off the branch, and watched them fall the long, long way down to the floor. “I'm just saving my friends from their imminent deaths, _again._ ”

Lily laughed, and gestured grandly at the expanse of dark forest around them, “Well, you're doing a great job.”

“Hey! They can wait five bloody minutes to be saved,” James said.

Where they sat, the dying light of the sun could reach them through the canopy. It didn't seem so thick up here, in the middle of it. The forest took on a mystical aura, glowing in the sunset. For a moment, it was hard to believe there were trolls in here, or giants, or man-eating trees.

For one tiny moment, it felt like he and Lily were in a normal forest, full of deer and song birds, and they were just enjoying a simple date at the top of the tallest oak they could find. There were no pressing issues, no monsters to run from and no friends to save. They were just resting.

Then reality came rushing back to James, and he remembered his friends had been missing for a while now. Remus longer than anyone else, and he'd found no sign of him anywhere. The irony was, Remus’s werewolf senses made him an excellent tracker, and Sirius’s dog nose was stronger than his human nose. If the two of them were here, they’d have found everyone ages ago.

“Besides,” James said, both to fill the silence and calm the thoughts in his head, “Sirius can track Remus like that,” he clicked his fingers. As an after thought, he added, “He's got an excellent sense of smell.”

“What do you mean? No wizard can smell another wizard,” Lily said.

James realised his mistake too late. He tried to backtrack, to force the words back in his mouth, “Ah, well, uh... what I meant was... when Sirius was a child, he had an accident that gave him superb smelling abilities. Of course it helps that Remus stinks like he's never had a shower... uh, because he's not! Remus has never bathed and that's why... uh, you're not buying this are you?”

“Merlin's pants!” Lily exclaimed, laughing, “How are you and Sirius _this_ bad at lying? How you kept being an animagus a secret is beyond me.”

“What?” James asked, his heart shooting into his throat.

“James, I know,” Lily said.

“Know what?” James asked, hoping if he denied it long enough he could throw Lily off the scent.

“James, _I know,_ ” Lily said, emphatically.

“Know what?” James asked, gormlessly.

“Oh bloody hell!” Lily shouted, startling a woodpecker from a tree nearby. “I know you're a stag! I know Sirius is a dog, because he showed me. And I know, for some inexplicably horrible reason, Peter is a rat.”

“Sirius told you?”

“Yeah, but don't be mad. He had to, I'd hit him with a curse,” Lily swung her legs, as though all of this conversation was as normal as discussing breakfast.

None of this was normal! How did Lily know he was a stag? And more importantly, did she think that was cool or lame? He had to know.

“Wait, when did all this happen?” James asked. Maybe that was why she'd suddenly shown an interest in kissing him. Maybe she thought the stag was cool, and wanted to kiss him because of it.

“About forty minutes ago,” Lily said. “I'd actually just lost him when you showed up.”

“Wait...” James said, all thoughts of kissing Lily left his mind. He stood up on the branch, “So Sirius hasn't found Remus yet? Shit. We need to go.”

His broom, knowing it was needed, floated up so he could climb aboard. He steadied his hand on it, and held one hand out for Lily so she could get on first. She stood up and wiped the back of her robes with her hands.

“Wait, do you think you would have won?” she asked.

“Huh?” James asked, he was too busy thinking about Sirius dead and hanging from a tree, or Remus crushed beneath a boulder, or Peter trampled by trolls to understand her.

She took his hand, but made no move to get on the broom, “The Quidditch match, would you have won?”

James turned to face her, “Uh, yeah, probably. Ravenclaw's team is shit. They lost their seeker, keeper, and one of their beaters last year when they graduated. The new guys still need a lot of training. Not to mention-”

Lily stepped forward and caught James in a quick, soft kiss. She pulled away before her touch had registered, the sunlight highlighting the pink tinge to her cheeks. James's mouth opened and closed a few times, as though struggling for the words he'd been about to say. He didn't catch his breath.

Instead, he stepped backwards and fell off the branch.

“JAMES!” Lily screamed, leaping forward as though she could somehow catch him.

She quivered, unstable at the end of the branch, and got down on her hands and knees. In a crouch, she leaned over the edge of the branch, begging every deity she knew not to see James in a bloody puddle on the floor. When she finally opened her eyes, she could see right to the forest floor, miles and miles below her, but she couldn't see James.

“JAMES?” she cried.

Behind her, a dreamy sigh startled her so much she almost fell, “You kissed me.”

Lily scrambled away from the edge and spun on James like she was going to kill him. James floated next to her, reclining on his broom. His face was relaxed into a look of pure delight, completely oblivious to Lily's furious look.

She placed her hands on her hips, “What the hell, Potter?”

“What?” James asked, a playful smile on his face, “You shocked me.”

“You idiot! I thought you were dead,” she said. If he wasn't her only way out of this tree, she definitely would kill him.

“I thought you wouldn't care if I was turned into a grub,” James said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“That's not funny. At all.”

“Aw, I'm sorry.” James floated closer and offered her his hand, “Now come on. As much as I want to stay here kissing you – and Merlin, I want that so bad – I've got three friends to save.”

“I hate you,” Lily said, accepting his hand and swinging up onto his broom.

“Doesn't change the fact you kissed me,” James grinned.

“I already regret it.”

Her arms wrapped around his waist. Before they left, James committed the tree to his memory, promising himself he'd come back here one day and commemorate the tree properly. He'd bring pink ribbons, or the Gryffindor scarf he was wearing, or maybe he'd just bring Lily back and see if she'd forgive him enough to kiss him again.

James flew off, closer to the ground so they could keep an eye out for Remus, Sirius, or Peter. He couldn't keep the grin off his face, even as he worried for his friends. Today definitely was the best day of his life.


	6. An Army of Pig Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus finds a familiar face and falls off a cliff

When he came to the patch of jelly-ear fungus on the crooked birch tree, Remus knew he was lost. He'd passed this same crooked tree, with its patch of jelly-ear fungus, about three times now. He knew it was the same tree because, with the fungus, it looked like a stretched out house elf. He stared at it, like it would come to life and lead him back to Hogwarts.

When it didn't animate itself, he pulled out his wand, ready to blast it. He froze when something howled, nearby. He didn't put his wand back, but he lowered it from the tree. The howl started up again, and Snape was right, it was mournful.

But Snape was also wrong, because it wasn't a werewolf. Remus knew that howl. The second howl came from the same place, straight past the jelly-ear fungus tree, in the direction Remus had been heading anyway.

He broke into a sprint, jumping over rocks and broken twigs. He barely made a sound, and he put it down to some innate werewolf skill he didn't know he had – running through forests silently. The thing howled again, closer this time, and Remus got a burst of energy.

He shoved through a bush, shutting his eyes to avoid losing them to the thorns. When he emerged, like some kind of bush creature being birthed, he was delighted to see his instincts had been right. He had known that howl.

“Padfoot?” Remus asked.

The dog dropped the howl it'd been preparing, and swung its head towards Remus. Padfoot leapt up from his seated position, higher than a normal dog could jump, and wagged his tail furiously. He bounced around, whining with excitement, wiggling his whole body as he wagged his tail.

Remus smiled so widely he thought his cheeks would split. He had never in his life been happier to see Padfoot – except maybe that first transformation after they'd become animagi. He ran forward, but Padfoot was faster.

The dog bounded at him at full speed, and crashed into him. Remus fell to the floor, and Padfoot stood on his stomach and chest. He licked Remus's face with reckless abandon, leaving saliva all over Remus's face.

Remus laughed, and tried to push Padfoot's head away, “Sirius! Sirius stop!”

The dog stopped licking Remus suddenly, and leapt off his body. Remus sat up, and the thunderous hum of the dog's growl rolled at him. Remus frowned at Padfoot, but the dog didn't stop. It's haunches stood on end, saliva dripped from its mouth much more menacingly than before. He growled again.

“Okay, okay, I get it, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have cursed you,” Remus said, wiping dog drool off his face. The dog growled again. “Or left you on the floor of the dorm.”

The dog growled again, taking a threatening step forward. Remus knew what he wanted, and he stood up, dusting dirt off his clothes.

“Or come into the forest knowing it was dangerous. You were right, I was wrong, there's no werewolf.”

The dog stopped growling, and a few seconds later, human Sirius stood in front of Remus instead. He stepped forward and enveloped Remus into a bone-crushing hug. He didn't release him fully, instead grabbing one of his shoulders.

“You bloody tosser!” Sirius said.

“I know, but Merlin am I glad to see you! I've been wandering around for ages, and I've seen nothing!” Remus said. He looked around at the forest as though its secrets were hiding from him. If those secrets were living creatures, they probably were.

“No werewolves, then?” Sirius asked, though he already knew the answer.

“Just one,” Remus said, smiling. “I should've known Snape was talking nonsense, but I had to come, just in case. You get it, right?”

“Kind of,” Sirius said, though Remus knew he didn't really.

He didn't care, “Let's just get out of here, I've never been hungrier.”

“Ah, we can't go yet. I've found you, but there's still three other people to find.”

“Three? Prongs and Wormtail... and?” Remus asked.

Sirius kicked at the patch of grass beneath him as though it was to blame. He beheaded a single daisy with his shoe.

“I lost Evans. The trail dies here, I don't know where she went.”

“Lily?”

“Yeah, she was here and now she’s...” he glared at the grass, “not.”

Remus bent down to look at the grass, and Sirius stepped out of the patch. Remus looked at the flowers, at the grass, at the dirt, as though Lily were hiding beneath them waiting to leap out. He gave up his search, and stood back up.

“Her scent disappears or just fades?”

“Disappears,” Sirius said. He waved around them, “Like she vanished, or floated into the sky, I don't know, but she was there.”

“Think she apparated back to the castle?” Remus said. He almost kicked himself. Why was this the first time he'd thought of apparating back to the castle? Sure, he wasn't the most accurate, but he could get out of the forest, at least. Merlin, he was an idiot.

Sirius looked like he'd just had the same realisation. He shook his head, “No, she was chasing some creature – pig like, hairy, three eyes – and I lost sight of her. She wouldn't have apparated back.”

“I don't know a creature like that,” Remus said, but he wasn't the best at Care of Magical Creatures, so that didn't really mean anything. He looked back down at the patch, and something occurred to him, “Hang on, what was Lily even doing in the forest?”

“She followed James,” Sirius said. At Remus's face, Sirius grinned, “I know. She's got it bad for him, it's quite gross really.”

“Now is not the time, but when we get out of this godforsaken forest, I need you to tell me everything,” Remus said.

“I recommend a sick bucket.”

The two of them were stood by the only patch of grass in the forest. On all sides they were surrounded by bushes, so whichever way they went they were sure to rip their skin and clothes a little more.

A snuffling sound startled them. It came from a dog rose bush to their left. They spun to face it. Remus still had his wand ready, and he used the lumos charm to light up the bush. For a second, he was sure he saw three eyes glowing in the bushes, but they disappeared before he could say anything.

Another snuffling sound came from behind them. They spun around again, this time Sirius brought out his wand. The light caught on black hair but Remus wasn't sure if he really saw it or if he was just highly suggestible in this forest.

“Moony,” Sirius said, quietly.

Snuffling came from two more bushes. The leaves and branches of the bushes were shaking as something, or multiple somethings, snuffled through them.

“It's them. It's the pig things that got Evans,” Sirius said.

“What do we do? Fight or run?” Remus asked.

They had stood back to back as soon as the snuffling sounds increased. They spun slowly, their wands lighting up each bush as they passed. Three eyes glowed there, a patch of fur moved here. They were surrounded.

“I don't know what the thing was,” Sirius said, “I don't know how to fight it.”

“I don't even know how many of them there are,” Remus said.

The two of them were good at Defence Against the Dark Arts, but these creatures could be immune to certain spells. They could gain power from some spells, or gain abilities. Remus didn't want to risk it.

He reached back and grabbed the sleeve of Sirius's robes, “We run on three?”

“One,” Sirius said.

“Two,” Remus said.

“THREE!” They shouted in unison.

Remus shot a blast at the bush ahead of him, and yanked Sirius through the burning gap he'd created. Sirius spun around and ran side by side with Remus. They sprinted through the forest. Remus made no noise, but Sirius did. He wasn't quite a herd of trolls, but he was close. He snapped over every twig he saw, crunched over gravel and rocks, and whacked every hanging branch.

Above the sound of Sirius's running, Remus could hear the snuffling beasts chasing after them. They snorted and squealed like pigs with a sonorous charm on them. And they were fast – faster than a werewolf and an animagus dog.

“We can't outrun them,” Remus said.

“This way,” Sirius grabbed Remus's hand and veered off to the right.

They ran and the creatures followed them. Sirius was still holding Remus's hand when he fell. He tripped over a rotten log and tumbled forward. Remus was dragged with him, he hit rocks and branches and twigs as he fell.

Then, suddenly, he touched nothing as he fell. He managed to scrape open his eyes, just in time to see the cliff face come screaming towards him. He whacked into the side, a jagged rock hit his leg. Sirius grunted nearby, and Remus scraped down the cliff face, grazing half his body. He curled into a ball as best as he could, praying he wouldn't hit his head and die in this hellish forest. He tumbled, and fell, and hit every single protruding rock on his way down.

He landed with a thud that echoed through his entire body. Sirius lay next to him, groaning. Remus opened his eyes. The world was spinning and dizzying, but he saw the rocks tumbling down the cliff face after them. He heaved up as quick as he could, and threw himself above Sirius, shielding both their faces from the assault of rocks and pebbles that landed on them. It was the worst hailstones Remus had ever experienced.

The rock onslaught stopped, and Sirius pried his eyes open to look at Remus. His grey eyes shone, he was panting and bleeding. His hair was a mess, his clothes were ripped and torn. Remus probably looked the same.

Adrenalin pulsed in his veins, his body was shaking, his heart was furious inside his chest. Remus bent forward and crashed his mouth into Sirius's.

Grabbing his hair, Sirius dragged him closer. They shared a furious, excited kiss because they were somehow alive after falling down a sheer cliff. Sirius's hands ran through Remus's hair. With the hand that wasn't holding him up, Remus carressed Sirius's cheek, feeling scratches and cuts across his skin.

He went to move closer to Sirius, and cried out in pain, breaking their kiss. Sirius, looking a little dazed from either the fall or the kiss, scooted away slightly. Remus sat back as shocks of pain shot up his leg.

“My leg's broken,” he gasped.

Every tiny movement was hell. The adrenaline that had hidden his injury had faded. Shocks of white-hot pain danced up his left leg, his vision pulsed as he moved. He collapsed onto his back. The cliff face was to their right, where trees hung at the edge, and the sky was clearly visible high above them. They were out of the forest, but where they were was unknown.

Sirius's head blotted out the sky, “Are you dead?”

“No,” Remus said.

“Oh, thank Merlin. Now, keep still.”

Sirius disappeared, and sudden pain rocked through Remus's core. He cried out, and Sirius apologised. He stood up, and looked around them, but he couldn't find what he was looking for. Dejectedly, he crouched back down near Remus.

“There's nothing here to make splint,” he raised his eyebrows hopefully, “Will _Episkey_ work?”

“No, it’s too big,” Remus groaned.

“Wow… you really shouldn’t say that after kissing me,” Sirius said.

Remus breathed out a laugh, “Where are we?”

“I don't know,” Sirius said. A cut was bleeding on his lip, and Remus wondered whether that was from him or the cliff. “But we're out of the forest.”

“Yay?” Remus asked, not sure if he was supposed to be happy that they were more lost than before.

Sirius looked towards the cliff, “I'm going to drag you over there, but it's going to hurt.”

“I'll handle it,” Remus said. He would handle it, because he knew it wouldn't be nearly as bad as his monthly transformation.

It was still going to hurt though. He braced himself, as Sirius moved towards his head. Sirius's hands dug under Remus's back and hooked underneath his armpits. Remus bit his lip to keep from screaming, as Sirius began to drag him backwards. Every uneven bump of the ground jolted his leg, he was sure his bones were never going to mend after this. Not even Madam Pomfrey had that kind of power.

Just as Remus's vision began to get spotty, Sirius pulled him into a sitting position against the cliff face and the dragging was over. Sirius sat next to him, staring at his leg.

“If it helps, we're both injured,” Sirius showed Remus his ripped trouser leg and the wound that had, finally, stopped bleeding.

“How did that happen?”

“Lily is surprisingly good with non-verbal curses,” Sirius said, a hint of wonder in his voice.

“So, now what?”

“Now? I guess we wait, and hope that James found Lily.” Sirius thought for a second, and added, “Or she became Queen of the pig creatures and her army of beastly but kind-hearted minions is on its way to us now.”

“They didn't seem kind-hearted,” Remus said.

“No, they didn't.”

Remus settled back against the cliff. It wasn't the comfiest chair ever, but it was all he had.

“So, you kissed me,” Sirius said.

“You kissed me, too.”

“Wanna do it again?” Sirius asked. He smiled at Remus, “Purely to kill time, of course.”

“Of course,” Remus said, grabbing Sirius's tie and pulling him closer.

Sirius tasted a little like blood, but Remus didn't mind. It was the best kiss he'd ever had with a broken leg, and somehow it made all of this seem bearable.


	7. The Reunion

An hour passed. James's smile had faded, and even Lily's body pressed against his to stave off the cold couldn't bring it back. They had been flying for an hour, the sun had gone and twilight had set in. Soon, it would be pitch black in the forest and their wand light wouldn't do anything.

“Do you see anything?” James asked.

“No,” Lily leaned forward, “Can you get closer to the ground?”

James floated downwards until they were practically touching the floor. Lily's wand light seemed weaker than it had before, but in reality, the darkness was just stronger. James was beginning to get broom-burn.

“Do you think they found each other and went home?” James asked.

“No, Sirius doesn't know where I am, he wouldn't leave me.”

“What’s this new friendship between you and Sirius about?”

“Don't worry about it,” Lily said. Before James could say he wasn't worried about it, and he knew Sirius could never steal Lily from him, Lily leaned forward and pointed, “Look!”

They'd come to an edge of the forest. It wasn't the edge they wanted, but it was an edge, at least. James and Lily drifted over to the edge of the forest, which dropped off into a sheer cliff edge.

Beyond the cliff, the Scottish Highlands stood proudly. They could've reached the edge of Hogwarts' boundaries without realising. Hills and grasses rolled ahead of them, to their right they could see the edges of a lake, to their left they could see hills and more hills.

“Wow,” Lily said.

“It's beautiful,” James said.

“This would be a good place for our first date,” Lily said.

James grinned, and twisted in the broom to look at her, “Are you inviting me on a date, Lily?”

“Well, we're the only two wizards left in the world, apparently. I haven't got much choice, have I?”

“I'll take it.” James swooped forward, bringing his broom fully over the edge of the cliff.

Behind him, Lily gripped him tighter as she twisted to look at the bottom of the cliff. It was so far away, it disappeared into darkness, he couldn't see the bottom. She rested her chin on James's shoulder.

“Wanna go on an adventure?” she asked.

“Aren't we already on one?”

“Well, yeah, but there might be something cool down there,” Lily leaned dangerously over the broom, and James grabbed her robe to stop her from tipping off.

“What is with you? First you abandon Sirius to chase a creature you didn't know, and now you're trying to plummet to your death.”

“You're forgetting the part where I chased what I thought was the grim through the forest.”

“Do you want to die? Is that it?”

“No, I want to have fun,” she reached around James and grabbed the broom.

“I like this look on you,” James said.

With a strange amount of control, Lily managed to convince the broom to dip forward. James took hold of the broom before they nosedived into oblivion, and lead them down gently. The rocky cliff face flew past them, and James was sure he caught a glimpse of torn fabric, but he didn't stop to investigate. In truth, James didn't want to investigate this cliff, he just wanted to find his friends.

But he would do whatever Lily said, whenever she said, so he kept going.

As they got closer to the ground, Lily gasped. She leaned forward, tipping the broom slightly, and forcing James to grab her again.

“Lily, for Merlin's sake, you're going to die,” he snapped.

“There's something down there,” she said, straining to shine her light on what she'd seen.

She was telling the truth, and James could see a mass of something at the bottom of the cliff. He remembered the forest troll he'd stumbled upon, and slowed the broom's descent.

Slower, the two of them descended. Lily held her arm out as far as she could, trying to light the thing even as James pulled them further away. As soon as they were close enough to the ground, Lily leapt off the broom.

“Lily!”

“Prongs?” Sirius's voice called from the darkness.

“Black!” Lily cried.

She ran into the darkness. James flew after her, watching her wand light so he didn't lose sight of her. He heard someone running towards them and lit up his own wand, just in time to see Sirius and Lily collide.

“Evans! Fuck, I'm so glad to see you!” Sirius said, clinging to Lily like she was his best friend.

James floated nearby, looking extremely confused. Lily clung to Sirius just as tightly, burying her face in Sirius's neck.

“What... what is happening?” James asked.

Sirius looked at James from over Lily's head, “You're witnessing the birth of a beautiful friendship.”

“What happened to you?” Lily pulled away just enough to look into Sirius's face.

For one horrible moment, James thought she was going to kiss him. They were closer than they'd ever been, and James wanted to pry them apart and tell them to keep Dumbledore in their thoughts. What he was witnessing was unholy. Lily hated Sirius more than she hated James. This was madness! It was the forest playing tricks on him.

“I followed you! But your trail disappeared,” Sirius glanced at James, “Now I know why.”

He had a pleased look on his face, one that said he had a secret. James narrowed his eyes at him, but Sirius had already looked back at Lily.

“I bet you've had fun,” he said, so quietly James almost didn't hear him.

“Shut up,” Lily said, giggling. James had never heard that giggle, and he pulled off his glasses to rub his eyes, just to ensure he wasn't hallucinating. Lily said, “He picked me up when I lost you, we've been looking for you ever since!”

“I ran into Remus, we got chased by pig things and oh!” Sirius pulled away from Lily and ran back towards the cliff.

Lily followed and James flew after her. He was half convinced he was being lead to his death by spirits badly impersonating his friends, but he followed anyway. When their lit wands touched the cliff, they saw Sirius crouched in front of Remus.

“MOONY!” James said. It was his turn to leap from the broom and run at his friend.

He had to crouch to envelop Remus into an awkwardly shaped hug. Remus reached his arms up, but didn't move other than that.

“James, Lily, it's like the Gryffindor common room in here,” Remus said, trying to laugh. James noticed how pale his face was. He looked sick, worse than the day of a full moon. He pulled away and looked at Sirius and Remus.

“What happened?”

“We fell,” Sirius said, pointing up at the top of the cliff.

As though Sirius's words had removed a glamour charm, James saw all the cuts and scratches over his friends for the first time. Sirius's lips had a fresh cut, he had a black eye. Remus was covered in scratches. The two of them were wearing ripped and dirty clothes.

Lily gasped, “Remus, your leg!”

“Yeah, it's definitely broken,” Remus said.

That explained the look on his face. Now they were really stuck. They had a cliff to climb, four people to squeeze onto one broom, and one of them couldn't walk. If they hadn't been stuck before, they were now.

“What have you been doing this whole time?” Lily asked.

Remus rested his head against the cliff, “We were just waiting.”

“We did a few other things, too,” Sirius said.

From the look on Sirius's face, and the bloom that spread on Remus's cheeks, James decided he didn't want to know what those other things were, not now, not ever. Instead, he sat on the floor opposite them. Lily sat next to him, tucking closer to him to stay warm.

Remus and Sirius shared a look, and Lily glowered at them, “Something you two want to say?”

“Nope,” Sirius said.

“Not at all,” Remus said.

They both kept smirking. James noticed Lily was looking a little embarrassed, and he decided to go along with Remus and Sirius's smirks. He wrapped his arm around Lily and pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head.

Sirius snickered, and Remus hid his smile with his hand.

“You know, if we weren't going to die down here anyway, I would so kill you all,” Lily said, sounding mortified. She didn't pull away from James though, if anything, she tucked further into him.

Sirius pulled a stick out of James's hair, and scraped the leaves and twigs from Lily's. He observed them closely, picking twigs and leaves and scrub from their clothes. When he was done, he dropped everything onto a nearby pile of twigs. James moved his wandlight to look at them closer, they'd probably been collected from Sirius and Remus's clothes. The ends of the twigs had been burnt.

“ _Incendio,”_ Remus said. James barely got his face out of the way before the twigs set alight. It wasn't much, but their tiny campfire managed to sputter and stay alight.

Sirius sighed in relief, he held his hands out to the flame, “If this campfire goes out too, Prongs, we'll just use your broom.”

“Touch my broom and I'll drown you.”

“Why don't we just use your broom to get us back up the cliff?” Remus asked.

“We just came from there,” Lily said, shifting closer to the fire without slipping out from underneath James's arm, “There's nothing but forest. The broom could get us up there, but then what? We're just as stuck up there, and I'd say we're a little safer down here.”

“At least, we'd see anything coming at us,” Sirius said, gesturing at the open expanse around them.

Remus's breathing was shallow, and James shared a concerned look with Sirius. They needed to find a way back to Hogwarts as soon as they could.

Remus shut his eyes, and James spoke to keep him from passing out, “I take it there's no werewolf here?”

“Nope,” Remus said, weakly, “Actually, I haven't seen another living thing except for you and bowtruckles.”

“And hairy pigs,” Sirius said.

“How could I forget?” Remus asked with a small smile.

“Lucky you, me and Peter landed directly into a forest troll nest when we got here,” James said. “I haven't seen Peter since.”

“You don't think he's...” Lily didn't finish.

“I don't know, he went right, I went left.”

They fell into silence, and James realised they were hopeless. All of them had given up. They were reunited – mostly – but they were stuck, with no idea where to go or what to do next. He couldn't sit here doing nothing while Peter was being eaten by trolls, and Hogwarts was somewhere to be found.

He stood up, pulling away from Lily, and grabbed his broom, “I'm going to go look for Peter.”

“The hell you are,” Sirius said, “You go alone, you'll never come back.”

“You three are safer together, I'll go find Peter and then we'll come back and make a plan,” James said.

“Potter, are you an idiot?” Lily demanded.

“You know he is,” Remus said.

“We just flew around the forest for an hour, and saw no sign of Peter anywhere. What makes you think you'll find him now?”

“Luck?” James said.

“No, if today has proven anything, it's that none of us are lucky!” Lily gestured at them all, “We need to stay together, or we need to find a way back. Either way, no one goes off alone. Got it?”

“Damn, Prongs, she told you,” Sirius said.

“Fine, then what do you suggest?” James asked Lily.

“I don't know. We'll get Remus on the broom-”

“He hates flying,” Sirius whispered theatrically.

Remus peeled his eyes open, “Sorry.”

“Fine,” Lily said, recovering quickly. “We'll put Remus on the broom, and James, you fly him around. And we'll walk...” Lily pointed in a random direction, towards the lake she and James had seen from the top, “...this way.”

When no one said anything, she put her hands on her hips, “Do you have a better idea?”

The three boys shared a look, and Lily got the distinct impression they were having a silent conversation. Eventually, Sirius stood up, using the cliff-face to support himself. He was still slightly unsteady on his injured leg, but he was better than before.

“Prongs becomes Prongs, Remus sits on his back, me and Lily share the broom, and we go...” Sirius pointed in the opposite direction to Lily, “...that way.”

“How is riding a stag better than riding a broom?” Lily demanded.

“It's a lot more majestic, for starters,” James said.

“Wait, you know?” Remus asked.

“She knows,” Sirius said.

“What does she know?” Remus said.

Lily sighed, and pointed at them individually, “I know he's a dog, and he's a stag, and you're a... actually, I don't know what you are. What are you?”

Again the boys shared a look, had another silent conversation. Remus nodded his head a few times, before turning to Lily.

“I'm a werewolf,” Remus said. “I'd show you but I'd probably kill you.”

“You're a... you're a... but the werewolf in the forest was a lie,” Lily said, more stumped than when Sirius had transformed into a dog in front of her. Gentle Remus was a werewolf? That made less sense than that tosser Potter being a beautiful stag.

“It is a lie, I don't live in the forest. In fact, today's little outing was my first into the forest. I thoroughly regret it,” Remus said, gesturing to his injured leg.

“As you should. But we don't have time for this, Evans, you need to deal with this knowledge as quick as possible so we can get going.”

Lily held up her hands in surrender, “Okay, I'll deal with it later. For now, just don't... uh scratch me, I guess?”

“Don't worry, he's harmless as a human,” Sirius said.

“I wouldn’t say harmless,” Remus said, offended.

“I would. Totally harmless, like a flower.”

“I’m not a flower-”

“We don’t have time for your bickering,” James interrupted.

James scratched his head, spinning around to look at where they were. He wasn't sure whose plan – Lily or Sirius's – was better, but he knew one thing, he didn't want to be a stag right now. He couldn't hold Lily's hand, for starters.

“We'll use the broom. Sirius flies with Remus, and me and Lily walk,” James said, calling his broom over with a click of his fingers.

Everyone nodded, and James realised he must have sounded a lot more confident than he felt.


	8. The Tunnel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> James isn't a fan of Lily and Sirius' friendship

It took a long time to get Remus onto the broom. Eventually, Sirius and James had to lift him and ignore his cries. They helped Remus sit on the broom, and then apologised as much as they could. Remus just weakly nodded his head, holding onto the broom as tight as he could manage. Sirius climbed up in front of him, and Remus wrapped his arms around Sirius's waist without hesitating.

The four of them set off, walking towards the lake Lily had told them about. Sirius wanted to ask why she thought this was better than any other direction, but he decided not to start an unnecessary fight with his new best friend. Instead, he stayed quiet, feeling Remus's uneven breathing against his back, and listening to James and Lily's footsteps.

The sky darkened, and stars began to appear, glinting in and out of view. Sirius wondered if he could see his namesake up there. Remus's hand tightened on Sirius's robes, and Sirius worried more. He'd seen Remus in pain a lot, but he would never be okay with it. He'd never be okay with any of them hurting.

He spoke to ignore his thoughts, “If we don't find Peter, does that make Lily the new him?”

“Maybe,” James said, “Lil, would you consider becoming a rat to fill this role?”

“No,” Lily said, shuddering.

“Would you consider gaining a couple hundred pounds to fill this role?” Remus asked, sounding surprisingly conscious.

“Absolutely not,” Lily said.

“Hm...” Sirius said, “You aren't the strongest applicant we've had, what skills and experiences would you bring to this position?”

“Wait, is this an interview?” she asked.

“Young lady, of course this is an interview. Do you think you can just walk into this job?” James demanded.

“My skills and experiences are varied. I bring a much needed feminine touch to this group, and my potion making skills are second to none,” Lily said, smoothly. Sirius wondered if she'd had that line saved up for this exact moment, but shrugged it off as a silly thought.

“And if we asked you to abandon any and all romantic relationships for this role, would you?” Sirius asked, earning himself a glare from James and a snicker from Remus.

Lily hummed in thought. Sirius glanced to look at her, and saw she was holding hands with James. This forest must be filled with romance-inducing spores or something, because the four of them had paired off with no resistance. Sirius was glad he'd finally managed to woo Remus, and all it took was falling off a cliff and breaking a leg.

“I'm afraid not,” Lily said.

“You took too long to answer that,” James said, quietly.

“Actually, that was the answer we wanted!” Sirius said, happily, “The Marauders would never expect you to abandon your personal relationships, we are not a dictatorship.”

“Mostly,” Remus added.

“Well, Miss. Evans, you've certainly impressed. We'll get back to you regarding this position as soon as possible,” Sirius said.

“Thank you. I look forward to hearing from you,” Lily said.

They carried on walking, their fake interview coming to an end. James's broom resisted Sirius's flying, making it quiver occasionally and almost jerk away. It wasn't bad enough to jolt Remus's leg yet, but if it didn't get its act together, Sirius would make a new campfire with essence of Thunderbolt.

Lily and James were lighting their way as much as their wands would allow. To their right the cliff face watched them, its jagged rocks threatening to dislodge and bludgeon Sirius. He watched it as they glided past, which is why he saw the cave first.

He stopped, and stared at the dark hole in the cliff face. It was jagged and unwelcoming, rocks hanging around the opening threatening to grab anything that entered. Sirius drifted towards it, forcing James and Lily to follow and light their way.

James walked ahead of Sirius, dropping Lily's hand, and approached the cave entrance. He aimed his wand around the cave opening, and reached inside. His wandlight didn't reach very far, but Sirius was sure he saw something glowing deep inside the cave. Remus released him, and Sirius hopped off the broom to get a closer look. He held onto the front of the broom with one hand, to lead Remus to the cave.

“Is something in there?” he asked.

“Something's definitely glowing,” James said.

“It could be a tunnel back to Hogwarts,” Remus said, he turned to James and added, “If it is, the map is incomplete.”

“We can't graduate if the map's wrong, what about future mischief makers?” James said. He touched the edge of the cave's tunnel, bringing back a hand covered in grey rock dust, “What if they need this tunnel?”

“This is crazy,” Sirius said, putting himself between Remus and James, “We're not going in there.”

“But Pads-”

“If it was a tunnel out of Hogwarts, wouldn't we have found it by now? We've explored every inch of that castle, the map's complete,” Sirius cut James off. Their voices echoed down the cave as they spoke.

“I don't know what this map you're talking about is, but I agree with Sirius,” Lily ignored the horrified look on James's face, and continued, “Why would there be a tunnel out of Hogwarts to here?”

“You'd be surprised,” Remus said.

Sirius shook his head, “Look, it's two to one, we're not going in there.”

“Actually, I agree with James. We should go in, even if just for shelter,” Remus said.

Sirius turned to look at him like he'd lost his mind. He pulled the broom forwards, forcing Remus closer. He arched an eyebrow at Remus, as though that alone would make him change his mind. When Remus didn't suddenly change his mind, Sirius sighed.

“It's two two then, what now?”

“Dog, stag, werewolf?” James offered.

“Fine,” Sirius held his hand out. James and Remus copied him. “One, two, three.”

They threw three different shapes with their hands, and Lily watched them with confusion. She observed their hands, and waited for them to explain who had won.

The boys kept their hands in a loose triangle, until she finally asked, “Do you always pick yourselves?”

“Usually, yeah,” Sirius said.

“But how does that work? Who won?” she asked, looking at their hands like the answer was written there.

To Sirius, it was clear. James dropped his hand, and the other two copied. He turned to Lily.

“Well, in this case, I beat Sirius-”

“Which is ridiculous, I mean, c'mon a stag beating a dog? Unlikely,” Sirius said.

“Sirius,” James said with an exasperated sigh. Sirius gestured for James to continue, and he did, “So stag trumps dog, which is one point to going _in_ the cave. But dog beats werewolf-”

“Talk about unlikely,” Remus muttered, making Sirius glare at him.

“Dog beats werewolf, so that's a point to _not_ going into the cave. And werewolf beats stag but me and Remus want the same thing, so that cancels out.”

“So... who won?” Lily asked, looking at them even more confused than before.

“Well, it's one point to going in and one point to not going in,” James summarised.

“SO NOTHING WAS DECIDED?” Lily shouted, her voice emphasised by the echo in the cave. Sirius was sure he heard the tunnel walls shudder, small rocks falling loose, at the volume of her voice.

“Pretty much,” Remus said.

“Does that ever work?” she demanded.

“Rarely,” Remus admitted, with a shrug.

“Usually, Peter sides with me so I get what I want,” James explained.

“For Merlin's sake, you're all idiots. We'll just go in the stupid cave,” Lily stormed into the cave tunnel, muttering angrily.

James pulled a worried face at Sirius and Remus before jogging ahead to catch Lily. Sirius stepped into the cave, and placed his hand on the front of the broom again. He lead Remus into the cave, following James and Lily's wand lights. They had to walk single file until they reached a corner, which opened up into a larger tunnel. It was big enough to let them walk upright and all at once.

The light bounced off the tunnel roof, where moist stalactites pointed down at them. The walls were made up of grey rock. The top most layer crumbled under their touch, and they silently decided not to touch the cave walls anymore. The floor was by far the weirdest thing in the tunnel. It was made up of grey rock too, but was covered in a sticky, white substance. Sirius could think of a million dirty jokes, but held his tongue because the weird webbing gave him the chills.

His shoes stuck to the web, and every step dragged it with him. He looked at Lily and James who – holding hands again – were studying the webbing too. Remus was lucky enough to avoid stepping on the floor, but he had to keep ducking his head to avoid being punctured by stalactites.

A drop of what he hoped was water fell on Sirius's head and he shook his hair like a dog.

“I'm dog-tired,” he said with a yawn.

“Was that a pun?” James asked.

“Sort of,” Sirius said.

It was a pun, but it was true. He was exhausted, he'd been walking around the forest for hours now. He entered when it was light, and now it was dark and he was in some strange tunnel. He just wanted to sleep. They might have to sleep outside tonight and start the look for Hogwarts when the light came back, but Sirius didn't want to say that just in case it was true.

“Become the dog again, please,” Lily said.

Sirius grinned at her. He didn't need to be asked twice. He released his grip on the broom, and transformed into Padfoot. As a dog, the webbing felt even worse beneath his paws. He bounded around the tunnel to avoid touching the webbing too much. He darted ahead of them, staying in the lit up area.

He could hear Remus laughing, and he spun around and around chasing his tail.

“Aw,” he heard Lily say.

He froze, and gave up chasing his tail even though he’d almost caught it. He turned back to look at his friends, and saw they'd stopped too. James and Remus were staring at Lily, but she was watching him. Sirius's tail began to wag.

“Did you just say _aw?_ ” Remus asked, incredulously.

“I couldn't help it,” Lily said, bending down to look at Sirius better, “He's so cute as a dog.”

Sirius's tail wagged harder, and James read his mind. He pointed at Sirius, “No, Padfoot! No!”

Sirius whined and rubbed his face with his paw. Lily made an admiring noise. Sirius had heard her use that noise for kittens and owls, and he was weirdly happy to hear her use it for him. He cried again, and crept towards her, putting on his best kicked-dog expression.

“Stop it, Padfoot!” James scolded.

“James, don't be mean,” Lily said.

Remus smirked, “Yeah, Prongs, don't be mean.”

Sirius tilted his head at Lily, sniffing the air in front of her. He could smell her coconut shampoo, along with the familiar smells of James and Remus.

“Can I... pet him?” Lily said, glancing away from Sirius.

“Why are you asking me?” Remus asked.

“I don't know, is it weird to pet him?”

“He's not really a dog,” James pouted. Sirius laughed at the look on James's face, but it came out like a bark.

Lily reached out for Sirius, and he wagged his tail so fast his entire body shook. He pushed his head into Lily's hand, loving the horrified look on James's face. Lily stroked his head, and scratched behind his ears.

“Have I lost my mind?” James asked, “Moony, you'd tell me if I'd lost my mind, right?”

“If you've lost your mind that makes me a figment of your imagination. So there's nothing I can say to convince you either way,” Remus said seriously.

“You can say you're not a figment of my imagination,” James sounded worried.

“Yes, but would I tell the truth?” Remus asked.

Sirius licked Lily's hand, and she giggled, wiping his saliva on her robes. Sirius barked again, and set off down the tunnel, leading them deeper.


	9. The Cave's Inhabitants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang learn what lives in the cave they've so willingly walked into

Lily watched her boys fondly. She didn't know when she'd started thinking of them as her boys, but that's what they were now. Sirius was still a dog, bounding ahead of them, occasionally stopping to wait for them to catch up. Remus was drifting next to her on the broom, crouching low to avoid hitting his head. James was holding her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze every few steps.

She worried about Peter, as well. She hadn't seen a sign of him since he and James had flown past the Quidditch pitch. That had been hours ago. She hoped he'd gotten out the forest, or was safely tucked away somewhere, but she still worried. There was no easy way to find him, they just had to keep looking, and hope he showed up somewhere, safe.

For now, she wanted to see what was down this tunnel. The thing they'd seen glowing from the cave entrance was nowhere to be found, but every now and then, Lily was sure she saw gems glinting at her in the distance, only for them to be gone when she reached them.

Ahead of them, Sirius stopped, his nose up in the air as he sniffed. He let out a growl, his hackles raised.

“Padfoot?” Remus asked.

Sirius continued to growl. He barked, and leapt forward, disappearing into the darkness. Lily and James ran after him, and Remus flew after them. They could hear Sirius's claws clicking against rock, and his growls reverberated around the tunnel back to them.

“Sirius,” James shouted, his voice echoing back without a response.

There was a thud, the sound of rocks being knocked loose. Sirius barked and growled. Lily and James reached him a second before Remus did. They all froze when their wand light touched Sirius. He was fighting a black, writhing mass of hair and legs. For a second Lily thought it was the pig creature she'd chased earlier.

She screamed when she realised what it was. James stepped in front of her, shielding her behind him. For once, she didn't protest, she was happy to be hidden from the acromantula Sirius was fighting.

Sirius yelped, and Lily peered around James to see the acromantula's fangs on Sirius's injured leg.

“ _Stupefy_ ,” Remus shouted, but the spell missed. It hit the cave wall and a handful of rocks broke loose and rolled onto the floor.

The acromantula was almost bigger than Sirius, and it lifted him off the ground. He yelped and cried out, his claws scrabbling across the floor.

“ _Reducto,”_ James said. More rocks flew from the ceiling, exploding into clouds of dust that made them cough and obscured their vision. The tunnel might collapse with one more errant spell.

The acromantula was unfazed. It tightened its grip on Sirius, making him yelp again, and began dragging him down the tunnel.

“HEY!” James shouted, running after the skittering spider.

Lily and Remus followed after them. Her footsteps were loud, even against the webbing on the floor. Somewhere ahead of them they heard Sirius's growls and yelps, and James's shouting. The tunnel walls squeezed closer, and Lily had to turn sideways to fit through. Remus struggled, and Lily had to pull on the broom to encourage it through.

A clicking sound stopped them. It was like lots of people softly clapping their hands, and it made Lily shiver. It was coming from the gap ahead, where thousands of gems reflected in her wand light. Only now she realised they weren't gems at all, they were hundreds and thousands of acromantula eyes watching and waiting.

“SIRIUS!” James's voice rushed back to them, “ _Stupefy.”_

Lily and Remus pushed through the last stretch of tunnel, and stepped out into a huge cavern. It reminded Lily of her trips to Rome, like an acromantula colosseum. Glowing fungus lit the cavern enough for Lily to see. Acromantulas of different sizes crawled and writhed along the floor, appearing from cracks in the cave walls, and suspended from the ceiling on sticky webs. The spiders were clicking their pincers and watching Sirius and James desperately struggle to defend themselves. Spiders surrounded them, leaping at them and being caught by spells.

Sirius was human, and together he and James were just making it, but there were too many spiders. For every one they killed, another four emerged from the walls.

“James!” Lily shouted.

As soon as the word left her mouth, the clicking sound stopped. Every single acromantula turned to look at her and Remus, with eight, black eyes. They froze halfway out the walls, dangling from the ceiling. Lily cringed and backed up, her back hitting the broom.

“Who dares...” a deep, wall-shaking voice came from somewhere in the darkness, “Who dares bring that in here?”

James and Sirius spun around to find the source of the voice. Lily reached back and Remus took her hand. They had to find a way back through the tunnel, but there were too many spiders between them and James and Sirius, they would not leave without them.

“Answer me,” the voice said.

It was coming from the furthest corner of the room. In the sickly green glow of the fungus, Lily saw huge legs stretching up from a hole in the ground. She squeezed Remus's hand, backing up as far as she could.

The voice belonged to the biggest acromantula in the cavern. While the other spiders were the size of large dogs, this one was the size of a bus. Three of its eight eyes were murky white, but it looked at Lily and Remus with a sudden intensity.

“Who dares bring a werewolf into my lair?” the acromantula demanded.

Lily was relieved to find the acromantula wasn't talking about her, but it was bittersweet, because it was talking about Remus. He couldn't walk, and even if he could he wouldn't leave this place without them.

“Moony!” Sirius shouted.

Lily jerked to look at him. He was pointing behind them. Remus was snatched from her hand and dragged off the broom. He screamed as his leg was smashed against the floor. Lily lunged for him but the acromantula holding him was faster. It dragged Remus towards the biggest acromantula, whacking his broken leg against the floor repeatedly. He screamed and cried out. Lily wanted to do something, to save him, but she couldn't guarantee her curse wouldn't hit him.

As though broken from some spell, the acromantulas swarmed Sirius and James. Four of them broke off from the crowd to go for Lily. She threw curse after curse without thinking. Knocking down spiders before they could catch her.

“MOONY!” Sirius shouted, as Remus screamed again.

Lily saw him transform into a dog, and leap further than any real dog could. He easily cleared the crowd of spiders surrounding him, skidding across the floor and smacking into the cave wall. He recovered quickly, sprinting towards Remus. He seized Remus's uninjured leg in his mouth and pulled, slowing the acromantula.

Lily ran to him, blasting acromantulas out of her way.

“CONFRINGO,” James shouted, clearing a way through the crowd.

He reached her and they ran to Sirius, still caught in a tug of war with Remus as the rope. Lily grabbed Remus's hand and pulled with Sirius. James defended them, blasting away any spiders that tried to get involved. Remus looked close to passing out from pain, and Lily called his name to keep him conscious.

She aimed her wand right at his head, “Duck! _Stupefy!_ ”

The curse flew over Remus's ducked head and caught the acromantula right in the jaw. Sirius and Lily pulled Remus free. He was pale and clammy, and Lily wanted to burn this entire cavern down to defend him. Sirius transformed back into human, looking a lot more worse for wear. He was ragged and panting, and his leg was spilling blood across the floor. He swayed on his feet, but he managed to crouch down to Remus.

“Sirius,” James said, backing up without taking his eyes off the waiting acromantulas, “You have to get him out of here.”

“No, I'm not leaving you!” Sirius said, without taking his eyes off Remus.

“He's right,” Lily panted, watching the crowd of acromantulas waiting for them. They were watching, waiting for the right moment to pounce and devour them. Lily grabbed Sirius's shirt to make him look at her, “You have to get him get out of here, we'll give you a headstart and then we'll be right behind you.”

Sirius nodded his head, glancing over his shoulder at the acromantulas. Still more were pouring out of the walls, scrambling over each to get a good look at the prey that had so willingly wandered into their lair.

“I'll come back for you,” Sirius said.

“Just go!” James said.

He turned his back on the acromantulas, and Lily stood up to take his place. James clicked his finger, and his broom raced towards them. He helped Sirius lift Remus onto the broom. Lily aimed her wand at the spiders. They seemed to be waiting for something, and Lily was too scared to imagine what.

Sirius flew over the spiders, with Remus on the back of the broom. They got out of the cavern easily, almost too easily, and Lily sent a silent warning to Sirius to stay aware.

James moved next to Lily, and whispered, “What now?”

“Now,” came the great, soul-shaking voice of the acromantula, “the werewolf is gone, and my children can feast.”

The giant acromantula sank back into its pit, just as the spiders lunged for James and Lily. She screamed, and James grabbed her hand, shooting a curse at the closest spider. He pulled her to the cave wall, and the spiders advanced. They shot curse after curse, defending each other well, and moving in sync. Anytime there was a gap, they ran for the exit, stopping only when the spiders blocked them off.

“It's not working,” Lily said. The spiders were multiplying, they were never ending. Their single fire curses weren't going to save them for much longer.

“We have to collapse the cavern,” James said, punching a smaller spider that leapt for his face.

“Are you mad?” Lily demanded.

“More will keep coming, there's only so long we can hold them off-” James paused to shoot a blast of fire at a group of acromantulas, forcing them backwards, “If we collapse the cavern, they'll flee, they might abandon us.”

“You are mad,” Lily said, but she met his eyes, and she nodded her agreement. He was right, it was their only chance.

“Together?” James asked, aiming his wand at the ceiling.

“Together,” Lily said.

“ _CONFRINGO_ ,” they shouted in unison.

The curses shot from their wands and hit the centre of the high ceiling. It exploded, and the entire cavern shook. Rocks came loose, boulders tumbled down the walls crushing spiders on their way down. James yanked Lily out of the way of a falling boulder, and pulled her to the exit.

“After them,” the acromantula ordered.

“ _Protego duo,_ ” Lily said. A glowing shield shot out of her wand and spread above their heads. Pebbles and rocks, and chunks of glowing fungus, bounced off her shield, which didn't even waver underneath them.

James let Lily squeeze into the thin tunnel first. He stayed at the opening of the exit to fire off more curses at the acromantulas brave enough to follow them as their lair crumbled around them. The entire cliff was shaking, Lily imagined it collapsing and crushing them beneath it.

She held her breath to squeeze through the smallest patch of the tunnel, and came out into the wider section of tunnel. Behind her, James hadn't come into the tunnel yet.

“JAMES!” Lily cried.

He shot another curse, before pushing through the small gap, “Keep going.”

Lily didn't move. She waited until he was within reach to grab him and pull him back through the tunnel, sticking to the webbed floor that should have been their warning. They sprinted without slowing down even once. Lily's legs hurt, her lungs screamed, but she didn't stop. She was so sure she could hear the acromantulas chasing her.

They burst out of the cave entrance, and spun around in unison, “ _Confringo_!”

The cave crumbled and collapsed in on itself. Rocks and boulders covered the cave entrance, blocking the acromantulas away forever, Lily hoped.

“Moony, Moony, please,” Sirius said, his voice full of concern.

Lily and James didn't have time to be relieved at their escape. They turned to see Remus writhing on the floor and gasping in pain, as Sirius held him and tried to calm him.


	10. The Night

Sirius held either side of Remus's face, and watched him struggle and cry. He couldn't look at his leg, he could barely look at the pain on his face. He couldn't even muster relief at Lily and James's survival, and the destruction of the tunnel. All he could do was hold Remus, and wonder why he hadn't mastered first aid spells. As soon as this was over, he'd demand Dumbledore add wizarding first aid to the curriculum. He'd scour every book for every healing spell he could find.

“Moony, Moony, please,” Sirius said. He didn't know what he was begging for. If Remus had any control over his pain, he would have surely stopped it by now. Sirius's begging was aimed at any merciful god or spirit that may be listening, and willing to heal Remus.

Lily gasped and covered her mouth when she saw Remus's leg. Sirius's eyes darted down to it impulsively and he cringed away. He squeezed his eyes closed and turned away. Remus's leg was bloody and swollen, and bent at an angle that was more unnatural than when he became a werewolf.

Lily and James crouched by Remus. James grabbed Sirius's shoulder, to comfort himself or to comfort Sirius, it wasn't clear. Neither of them were comforted, either way. Lily aimed her wand at Remus.

“ _Tum somnum,_ ” Lily said. A ghostly spell curled out of the end of wand and wafted over to Remus. He breathed in the smoky spell, and all at once the pain left his face. His entire body relaxed, and he let out a long, restful sigh.

“What was that?” Sirius asked, still not looking away from Remus.

“A sleeping charm,” Lily said.

Sirius stood up and swiped at his eyes. He bent down by Remus and pushed his hands underneath his shoulders, lifting him slightly.

“Wait, Sirius,” Lily said, holding out her hand.

Sirius knelt down, lowering Remus back to the floor. He looked at Lily, waiting for her to explain. Her hair was in knots, her clothes were in tatters, she was bleeding and covered in rock dust. James was just as bad, his hair had lost its organised mess look and committed fully to disorganised chaos. Sirius's leg smarted and stung with every movement. He hadn't collapsed on the floor yet, so the acromantula venom had hopefully failed in hurting him. His leg was bleeding again, though, and it stained the grass red.

Lily glanced at James for help explaining, and he cleared his throat.

“We don't know where the castle is, mate. We could be hours away, we can't carry him for that long,” he said.

“I'll carry him for hours. I'll do it alone, if I have to,” Sirius said, bristling.

Lily placed a hand over his, “Sirius, your leg is worse than before. We're all weak, and exhausted, and starving. We need to wait until its light, we stand a better chance of finding the castle.”

Sirius acquiesced under their gaze. They made a great team, and they spoke a lot of sense. Sirius would be concerned about how this would affect their future pranks, but right now he wasn't sure they had a future.

“Let's move over there, away from the cave,” Sirius said. The cave was blocked off now, but that didn't mean the acromantulas wouldn't find them.

Carefully, James and Sirius manoeuvred Remus to the softer grass. They set him down as far from the cave as they could walk on their injuries. Despite the jagged lift, Remus didn't stir, he slept peacefully and Sirius wanted Lily to teach him that spell.

Sirius sat on one side of Remus, and James sat on the other. Sirius lifted Remus's hand and held onto it gently. He was no longer angry about being cursed by Remus, he wasn't even bothered that all of this had been caused by him running into the forest. He just wanted Remus to wake up, and be okay, and point them in the direction home.

Lily walked around them in a wide circle, occasionally pausing to mutter incantations. The air wavered where Lily walked, and he guessed she was shielding them from whatever else this land had to offer. The shield offered a little bit of protection from the wind, but Sirius still used his wand to gather twigs and branches from around them. They broke through the remaining gap of Lily's shield, just as she finished.

Sirius and James arranged their pathetic campfire as best as they could. They tried to keep it central, allowing them all to press around it, and keep Remus warm while he slept. When it was arranged, Sirius cast a jet of flame towards it, sparking it to life.

Lily sat down by James, and brushed hair off Remus's forehead. She gently grazed her fingertips over the biggest scar on Remus's face.

“I can't believe he's a werewolf,” she said, softly, “but at the same time, I guess it makes sense. The missed classes every month, the days when you all appear ragged and exhausted.”

She let go of Remus's face and looked up at Sirius, “How did you find out?”

“We figured it out in third year,” Sirius said, matching Lily's quiet volume.

“He was so scared when we told him we knew, he thought we'd kick him out of the dorm or chase him out of Hogwarts with torches,” James said.

“We didn't, obviously,” Sirius said, “We started helping him instead. We did his homework.”

“Stole food from the kitchen on full moon days,” James continued.

“Learnt the recipe for Wolfsbane, but we have yet to master it. We still have to get Slughorn to make it,” Sirius said.

“Wolfsbane? I've made it once. Slughorn set it as a challenge when I was bored of making Felix Felicis.” Lily looked down at Remus, “It is hard to make. And I don't envy him having to drink it, it stinks.”

“He said it tastes worse than James's cooking, so that put us right off,” Sirius laughed, lowly.

James shook his head, a small smile on his lips. He leaned back on his hands, stretching his legs towards the campfire, “In fourth year, we started working on become animagi, we'd mastered it by fifth year and we started spending the full moons with him.”

“Did he...” Lily looked unsure how to phrase her question, “Did he know who you were?”

Sirius and James shared a look, and Sirius took a deep breath. He looked just as unsure as to how to answer that question.

“You wouldn't get it because you're not an animagus, but when Moony takes his potion properly, he keeps his mind with him when he transforms. He's Remus but he's... not.”

“What Sirius means is with the potion Remus is similar to a wizard in animagus form. They're human but part of their mind isn't. Like,” James struggled for an example. He pointed at Sirius, “Like when Sirius is Padfoot, he gets excited for things he would ignore as a human, like birds and petting.”

“I'm not saying I'd say no to a stroke off you, Evans, I'm just saying its a lot less weird when I'm a dog,” Sirius said. He winked at Lily, “But if you want to scratch behind my ear, I'm sure I'd still enjoy it.”

“Sirius,” James warned, making Lily laugh.

“And when you're a stag?” Lily asked.

“When I'm Prongs, I have been known to eat grass,” James said, sounding just a little proud of this fact.

Lily smiled at him. She cast a quick, embarrassed glance at Sirius, and then back to James, “Could you show me?”

“Ooh,” Sirius crooned.

James rolled his eyes at him, and stood up. He offered Lily his hand and pulled her to her feet. He winked at her, pressed the tip of his wand to his head, and transformed into a stag. Lily stepped back in surprise, Prongs towered above her.

James stepped forwards, and bowed his head to her. Sirius watched them, and despite everything, he smiled at the sight of them. Lily reached up and ran her hand down James's nose. They looked magical, and Sirius was grateful to the forest for this one moment of happiness, even if it was intent on torturing them otherwise.

“You can ride him, you know,” Sirius said.

“I can?” Lily asked, looking both surprised and delighted by that fact.

“Oh, not as a stag, I meant as a human,” Sirius said.

She glared at him, picking up a handful of grass and throwing it at him. James transformed back into a human, much slower than Sirius had, and glared at him too.

“How come you sometimes transform without a wand?” Lily asked, returning to her seat by Remus.

James patted his head, double checking he hadn't brought his antlers with him again, and sat down next to her. He was biting his lip to keep from grinning, but Sirius knew how happy he must be that Lily had seen his stag form. It was impressive, Sirius had to admit.

“Practise,” Sirius said.

“Sirius transforms into a dog at any given moment because he thinks its funny,” James said, with a hint of annoyance.

“You're just upset because Lily likes dogs more than stags,” Sirius said, sticking his tongue out at James.

Lily yawned and rested her head on James's shoulder. James gave Sirius a smug look, and Sirius just shook his head.

“Get some sleep, you're dead on your feet,” he said.

“What about you?” Lily asked.

“I'll stay up for a bit, keep an eye out.”

James and Lily nodded. The moved closer to the fire, and lay down. Lily was closest to the fire, and James lay behind her. He wrapped an arm around her and she wiggled into him. Sirius retched loudly, and James stuck his middle finger up in response.

Sirius left them to sleep, and turned back to Remus who was still dreaming peacefully. He brushed his fingers through his hair, and listened to his rhythmic breathing. Sirius knew the shield protected them from view, but he couldn't help but feel exposed. They were in the middle of the Scottish Highlands, with no idea how far away from Hogwarts they were, and no idea how they were going to get back.

Bleeding, bruised, and tattered, they had barely survived what the forest had to offer, and they still had to find Peter. Tomorrow morning, he decided, they were going to find Peter, even if it meant splitting into teams to cover more ground. They couldn't waste another minute, once they were rested. They had to find Peter, because if he was struggling half as much as they were, he was in trouble.


	11. You're Not Real

Remus woke up at the sound of rain. The sky was dark and thunderous above him. He lay exposed in the grass, but not a single drop of rain touched him. He didn't need to be told they were protected by a _Protego totalum_ charm, he recognised the flickering air around them. From the outside, someone would see nothing but a rainy day in the highlands, but from the inside, the small patch of dry grass in the middle of a thunder storm was a bit jarring.

He shifted, his leg jolted but it didn't hurt nearly as much as it had last night. He couldn't remember leaving the cave, but here they were. Next to him, Sirius held his hand while he slept, and James and Lily were cuddled together next to a campfire. When Remus sat up fully, he saw his leg had been stinted and wrapped in Sirius, Lily, and James's robes. They were exposed to the wind, all to keep his leg from hurting him too much.

“Padfoot,” Remus whispered, “Padfoot.”

Sirius moved, groaned, and settled back to sleep. Remus moved his hand slightly, shaking it to wake him. Sirius groaned again, but this time his eyes fluttered open. For a second, he seemed confused by his surroundings, but when he saw Remus he shot back to reality.

“Moony, are you okay?” he asked, sitting up and touching Remus's arms, shoulders, face, just to make sure he was still there.

“I'm better. What happened? Last I remember an acromantula was going to eat me... or was that a nightmare?” Remus asked. His voice was croaky. Despite the clouds, it was light outside, and he realised he'd slept all night.

“Not a nightmare,” Sirius said. He gave Remus a quick rundown of the events after the acromantula had grabbed him, leading right up to the sleeping charm. “While you were asleep, I took the broom to find the straightest branch I could. Lily and James were happy to give their robes, and I made you a makeshift stint.”

He looked down at Remus's injured leg, and frowned at his handiwork, “It's not great but it might stop it getting worse.”

Remus hadn't quite shaken off his exhaustion. He had no idea how long he'd been gone from the castle, and he wondered if anyone had noticed their absence. Maybe they'd send someone looking for them, and they'd be rescued without much more hassle.

“You missed Lily seeing Prongs for the first time,” Sirius said, splaying his hands on either side of his head to make antlers.

“How'd she take it?”

“I think she fell in love with him,” Sirius mimed throwing up.

“Gross.”

Sirius plucked handfuls of grass up, and dropped them and plucked more. He did it over and over, plucking nervously like it was an addiction. Remus put his hand over Sirius's to stop him. Sirius was warm underneath his touch, his hands were shaking.

“We need to find Peter,” Sirius said.

“We'll find him today. My leg doesn't hurt as much. We're all rested, we'll find him.” Remus wasn't as confident as he sounded.

He was already forming a plan. James and Lily could fly up high to find the castle, and when they know which direction they should go in, they head that way. On the way they hope to find Peter, or failing that, back at the castle they run straight to Dumbledore to go find him, and take whatever punishment they're given.

Sirius yawned, and Remus wrapped an arm around his shoulders and supported him. Sirius rested his head on Remus's shoulders, and they stared out at the highlands, and up at the cliff they'd fallen down, and over in the direction they were heading.

“Does Lily mind that I'm a werewolf?” Remus asked.

“Nah,” Sirius said, through another yawn, “We talked about it last night, apparently she's made Wolfsbane before.”

“But she's not scared of me?”

“C'mon, this is Evans we're talking about, I don't even think she was scared in the acromantula lair,” Sirius said.

“Who knew acromantulas hated werewolves so much?” Remus asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Sirius shifted in his grip, and threw another burst of fire at the campfire to stop it from fizzling out. Remus watched Lily and James sleep, curled up together like they'd been together for years.

“Should we wake them?” Remus asked.

“Nah, we'll let them sleep. Prongs is probably having the best dream of his life,” Sirius smirked. He moved back to Remus, “Now you're looking a little better, I thought we could continue what we were doing before we were interrupted.”

He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Remus grabbed a handful of his shirt. He pulled him closer, bringing their mouths a mere breath apart, “Just for my health, right?”

“Naturally.”

Sirius closed the gap. He tasted like dust and smelt like the earth. Remus carded his hands through his hair, and Sirius's hand rested on Remus's waist. They were achy, and weak, and so, so tired of being outside, but this helped. Remus wanted to keep doing this after they got back to the castle, because he was sure Sirius's lips really were healing him.

* * *

James woke up when thunder broke the sky. He jerked upright, startling Lily awake. It took him a few panicked seconds to remember where he was, and why he was dry in the middle of a thunderstorm. Then Lily rolled in his arms, and he looked down at her. She smiled up at him, stretching into a yawn.

“Morning,” James said. He was ashamed to admit that despite everything, he'd had the best nights sleep of his life. He had fallen asleep quickly, and stayed asleep all night for the first time in a while.

It had to be due to Lily.

“Morning,” she said.

James realised his hand was still on her waist, and he subtly released her just in case it crossed a line. He looked towards the campfire. He saw Remus was awake, and so was Sirius. They were pressed together whispering or-

James froze like he'd been struck by lightning. Sirius and Remus weren't whispering.

“What’s happening? What’s going on?” James asked, loud enough to force Sirius and Remus apart.

They didn't seem embarrassed to be caught. In fact, they just seemed annoyed at being interrupted. Remus dropped his arms from behind Sirius's neck, and Sirius grinned at James.

“Morning, Prongsy. Sleep well?” Sirius wiggled his eyebrows in Lily's direction, and she smiled at him.

James couldn't find it in himself to smile back, or even glare. He was staring in shock at where Sirius and Remus had just been making out. Sure, this shouldn't come as a shock. The two of them had been dancing around each other since fourth year, but now was not the time to explore each others mouths. Which is what made James realise he'd lost it.

None of this was real, not one bit.

“None of this is real,” he said.

“James?” Lily asked.

“No, no, none of this is real!” James said, scrambling to his feet.

“James, calm down,” Lily said, standing up after him.

“How can I calm down when none of you are real?” James demanded.

He ran his hands through his messy hair, bringing back clumps of mud and rock dust. He pulled his glasses off – somehow miraculously unscathed – and rubbed his eyes. Returning his glasses, he realised what had happened.

“I know what's happened. I get it, Lily, I get it.”

“What's happened?” Lily asked, looking at him like he was crazy. And who knew, maybe he was!

James ran through the events as best as he could, “When I saw you in the Gryffindor stands and you said you'd kiss me if I won, I fell off my broom in shock, and _this,_ ” he gestured around himself and at them all, “and _this,_ and _this,_ is happening inside my head, from where I lay in a coma in the Hospital Wing.”

“You're in a coma? Right now?” Lily asked, one corner of her mouth curving up in amusement. She could laugh all she wanted, this fake Lily, because she wasn't real.

“Think about it, none of this makes sense. For starters, you know Sirius is a dog and you find him cute.”

“I also know Peter is a rat,” Lily said.

“Yeah, and I'm a stag and you're not freaked out by that,” James said. “Not to mention the fact that this nightmare started with me being chased by a family of forest trolls. That doesn't happen in real life.”

“I'm sure some wizard somewhere has been chased by trolls,” Lily said.

Sirius and Remus were looking at him with concern. Lily was holding her hands up at him as though trying to placate him. But it didn't matter, none of it did. He was in his own head, and if he left this shield he wouldn't get wet because it wasn't really raining.

“My two best friends fell off a cliff and into love, apparently,” James said, pointing at them.

“I don't think that's-”

“And you,” James said, looking at Lily, “I just _happen_ to find you alone in the forbidden forest? No, that doesn't happen. And you let me give you a ride on my broom, and we kiss in a giant oak tree? Nah, I'm not having it. It's a lie. All of this, all of you, are fake.”

“James, I really think you should calm down. Come on, sit down, you're just confused,” Lily took his hand but James pulled it free.

“Any second now, I'm going to wake up in a hospital cot. I'll look into the faces of my three best friends, and they'll say I fell from my broom and it was so embarrassing Lily doesn't like me anymore. Then they'll call me a tosser or something-”

“You're a tosser, Prongs,” Sirius offered, helpfully.

“Thanks, but you're not real.”

“I think I'm real. Moony, do you think I'm real?” Sirius asked.

Remus looked him up and down, “You look real. What about me, do I seem real?”

“You feel very real, but how would I know because I'm not real?”

“Lily, help us, are we real?” Remus asked.

“You're not helping,” Lily scolded them.

They looked guilty, and Lily took James's hand again. This time, he didn't pull away, and he let her pull him through the shield. As they passed through the ghostly shield, the wind rushed to seek them and rain drops soaked their clothes. Everything felt a little more real outside the shield. His skin itched, like there were spiders in his veins, and he scratched himself like a flea-ridden dog.

“James,” Lily said, catching his hands.

“Lily, I'm not real,” James said.

Lily sighed and shook her head sadly. She took his right hand in both her hands and lifted his sleeve to study his arm. When she found nothing on that one, she did the same with his left arm. She found nothing, and moved to check his legs. James just stood there and let her do it, there was no arguing with the voices in his head.

“Aha,” Lily said, though her discovery didn't make her happy.

James turned as best as he could to see Lily over his shoulder. She was stood behind him, his shirt lifted in her hands. She was staring at his back, but he couldn't see what she was looking at.

“What?” James asked.

“You got bit by an acromantula,” Lily said.

“So did Sirius.”

“Yeah, but as a dog. I don't know the effects of acromantula venom on an animagus, but I do know them on a human. Confusion, exhaustion, delusions. James, you're real, you're just infected.”

James spun to get hold of her. He seized her shoulders with fear, “Am I going to die?”

“No,” Lily said kindly, “You're going to keep believing that we're not real, but the wound doesn't look that bad and once we reach the castle, Pomfrey will fix it. Just listen to me, James, okay? I'm real, and I'm going to get you all home.”

James wanted to believe her so badly. He wanted to believe she was real, but his skin was itchy and his head was stuffed with cotton, and it was easier to believe none of this was real. Acromantula venom was scarier than a coma.

“Promise me you're real,” James said. He was shivering in the rain. Thunder rolled in the sky.

“Promise,” Lily said. She leaned up and kissed him quickly. It felt pretty real, and James allowed himself to pretend that this was real, even if it wasn't.


	12. The Little Spoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A familiar face is finally found and the final length of the journey is in sight.

After taking down the shield, James and Lily flew up high to see where the castle was. Lily could see it, and she got so excited she almost fell from the broom. James grabbed her to keep her steady, and they looked at the castle in the distance. They had been heading in the right direction by sheer luck, and it would take them hours to get back, but they were going to get home, at last.

Back on the ground, James explained what they'd seen. They helped Sirius and Remus onto the broom, since neither of them could walk very well with their injuries. They set off again, with renewed vigour. James kept looking at them like they were ghosts, Remus kept wincing, and Sirius hissed in pain a few times. Lily watched them, and prayed they'd make it home without falling.

“We need to find Peter,” she said.

“Any ideas?” James said.

“I could try to track him as Padfoot,” Sirius said.

“No, you shouldn't be walking,” James said.

“There is a tracking spell, but I don't know how good it is,” Remus said.

“Do you mean _inveniet?”_ Lily said, kicking herself for not thinking of that first.

She grabbed James's hand as she stumbled, trying to keep her eye on Remus. He nodded, from where he sat behind Sirius, leaning against him like he was moments away from passing out.

“You know it?” Remus asked.

Lily shook her head, “I've never cast it before. I've just read it about it.”

“Same,” Remus said.

“It's worth a shot, isn't it?” Sirius asked. He twisted the broom to face them, but continued to fly horizontally in the direction of the castle.

“I can't believe I didn't think of that,” Lily said.

“It's fine, Lil, we've all been a little distracted in the last few hours,” James said, squeezing her hand reassuringly.

Rain dripped through his hair and down his face. They all looked like drowned rats. Lily had never wanted a warm bed and a hot chocolate more than now.

“Do you want to try it or should I?” Remus asked Lily.

“You do it, you know him better. It might help,” Lily said.

James and Lily stopped, and Sirius brought the broom to a halt. Remus pulled away from Sirius enough to get his wand free. He took a deep breath and shut his eyes. Lily watched, and felt the bated breaths of Sirius and James. They were putting all their hope on this, she hoped Remus didn't crack under pressure.

Remus waved his wand in a large circle, “ _Inveniet_ Peter Pettigrew _._ ”

He opened his eyes, and they all waited. When nothing happened, Lily slouched. That really had been their last hope, now they were waiting on pure luck.

“Well, what n-” Lily stopped.

Blue smoke trailed out of Remus's wand and wrapped around Remus. Her eyes widened and Remus looked down at the smoke around him. Sirius turned on the broom to see what everyone was staring at. The smoke left Remus and wrapped around Sirius. He wafted it off, and it flew to James and then to Lily. As they watched, it fled from them and left a ghostly trail across the ground.

“Do we... follow it?” Sirius asked.

“I guess,” Remus said.

They followed the trail, moving as fast as they could, lest the smoke disappear. The smoke lead them onwards for a while, before disappearing back up the cliff and into the forest. They all shared a concerned look. They didn't want to go into the forest, but they had to, for Peter. Sirius and Remus went first, since they were already on the broom. When they were far enough from the cliff edge to feel safe enough to dismount, they did so.

Sirius crept towards the edge, and pushed the broom over. James clicked his fingers, and the broom returned to him like an obedient dog. He climbed on first, and offered his hand to Lily to help her on. She climbed up and they ascended over the cliff and back into the forest.

In the storm and rain, the forest seemed even more ominous. Lily hated being back, but they needed to save Peter. They hopped off the broom quickly, noticing the blue smoke fading and dispersing around them. If they didn't hurry, they'd lose the trail completely.

Remus and Sirius were returned to the broom, and they set off again. They ran this time, chasing the smoke, racing it to the end before it dispersed. They ran for fifteen minutes. Lily's chest hurt, her stomach was an empty pit. Her head ached with dehydration.

“I hate this forest,” Lily said.

“Shh! Evans, c'mon, you don't say that _inside_ the forest. We know it has a vengeful streak,” Sirius said.

“Sorry.”

James flung out his arms to stop Lily and Sirius. Everyone halted behind him, and Lily peered over his arm to see what he was looking at. The blue smoke trailed ahead of them, circling something lay on the ground. Lily didn't need James to tell her this was a forest troll, the smell of mould and wet earth told her that.

James burst into laughter. He doubled over in laughter and Lily shared a concerned look with Sirius and Remus. The acromantula venom in James was making him crazy. He needed Pomfrey before it started dissolving his brain.

“James?” Lily asked.

“I told you none of this was real,” James wandered forward.

“James,” Remus said.

“It's fine, it's fine,” James said.

He walked over to the troll, sleeping on the forest floor. Lily was cemented to the floor. She couldn't get closer to the troll. All she could do was watch as James dreamily wandered over to the troll, following the blue smoke.

“Prongs,” Sirius hissed. Though he didn't go to follow James either.

James just waved a dismissive hand. James bent down in front of the troll, bringing his face dangerously close to the troll's mouth. Lily seized Sirius's shirt, too afraid to look away.

She could hear James singing, “Trolly, trolly, sleepy trolly.”

“Oh god,” Lily murmured.

Sirius patted her back, but it didn't help. James was still going to be killed by troll, and she was too scared to do anything. All she could do was watch and hope his senses returned quickly.

“Prongs?” came a quiet, shaky voice.

Lily yanked her head away from Sirius to see the voice. She couldn't see who had spoken, but Sirius and Remus's faces confirmed her thoughts. Peter had spoken. Was he with the trolls?

Lily inched forward, Sirius moved closed on the broom.

“Prongs? What are you doing?” Peter's voice asked from somewhere unseen.

James laughed. He pointed into the forest, where Lily couldn't see, “Wormtail! You're not real either!”

“What?”

“Peter?” Lily called.

“ _Lily?_ ” Peter replied.

“Wormtail, where are you?” Remus asked.

“Here.”

They followed the sound of Peter's voice. Carefully avoiding the sleeping troll. Lily grabbed James's hand and forcefully dragged him away from the troll. They walked around the sleeping creature, and found Peter curled up inside another troll's arms.

“Are you… are you spooning with a troll?” Sirius asked.

“No,” Peter said.

“Is it just me or is he spooning with a troll?” Sirius asked again.

“He’s spooning with a troll,” Remus confirmed.

“What the hell happened to you?” Sirius demanded.

“Shh!” Peter hissed. He used his wand to levitate the troll hand off him, and climbed up. He ran to hug them all, except James who just kept laughing about how everything was fake. Lily shook her head to stop Peter from asking about him.

Peter shrugged, “After Prongs and I split up, I got caught by the trolls. But they didn't want to eat me, they just... ah... I don't know exactly, but I think they think I'm cute.”

“Cute?” Sirius asked.

“Yeah, like how we feel about bunnies or something, I, I guess. They call me Smudgie.”

“But you're okay?” Remus asked.

Peter nodded, “Yeah. They gave me this weird fruit and then I slept all night. I tried to leave a few times but they always caught me. Eventually, I just gave in.”

“Did you just hope we'd find you?” Lily asked, perplexed.

“Yeah, I knew Prongs wouldn't leave me,” Peter said.

“Because you're part of my head, so I can't leave you,” James said knowingly.

“Prongs, do me a favour and shut up,” Sirius said with a sigh.

James saluted him, and wandered off. Lily kept an eye on him to make sure he stayed nearby. She was starting to agree that none of this made sense. Peter had spent the night as a forest troll family's pet?

Then again, they had almost been acromantula snacks, so it made a little sense. She shook her head.

“Okay, well we're all together, so it doesn't matter how we got here. James is losing his mind, Sirius is losing blood, and Remus is losing consciousness. Let’s get to the Hospital Wing.”

“Yes, finally a good idea,” Sirius said. “Prongs, get your arse over here.”

“Shh!” Peter hissed, pointing to the sleeping trolls.

“I wish we could apparate,” Remus complained, lolling his head on Sirius’s shoulder.

James obediently came back. Lily took his hand, and the five of them set off in a straight line towards the castle. Once away from the trolls, they took off at a jog, as fast as they could go without passing out. It was going to be one long walk home, but at least they were all together.


	13. The Hospital Wing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Healing, reminiscing, and love.

Outside the huge double doors of the Hospital Wing, Remus's screams could be heard. Peter didn't rouse from his nap on the bench in the corridor, but Lily, James, and Sirius couldn't even close their eyes. They sat leaning back against the giant doors, listening to every crack and cry from Remus.

Madam Pomfrey had taken one look at them and asked for a full list of injuries. She'd noted down every cut, every bruise, and every acromantula bite. She'd looked at Remus's leg underneath the makeshift stint and gasped in horror. Sirius had never seen her look so horrified, and it was something he was never going to forget. She had said his leg had already started to set wrong, and needed to be rebroken and set properly. She said something about werewolf healing but Sirius couldn’t hear her over the look of fear on Remus’s face.

They had been forced outside to avoid seeing it, but that didn't make them oblivious to the pain Remus was in. Sirius sat on one side of Lily, holding her hand, and James was holding the other.

Sirius knew the pain Remus was feeling now was nothing compared to his bones breaking and reforming to make him a werewolf, but it would still hurt like hell.

Lily squeezed their hands when the last of Remus's screams died down. The huge doors opened and they staggered forward to avoid falling. Pomfrey gestured for them to come inside. She waved her wand, and Peter floated behind them still fast asleep. He floated into a bed and the blankets lifted and covered him.

“Who else was bitten by an acromantula?” Pomfrey asked.

“James,” Lily said, pushing him forward. Madam Pomfrey drew her eyebrows together in confusion when James just laughed. Lily explained, “He thinks we're not real.”

“Ah, you are far gone. Don't worry, he'll be back to normal once the potion has brewed.”

“Uh, I got bit too, but I have no symptoms,” Sirius said. He showed her his leg, and Pomfrey tutted.

“Very well, I'll give you the potion just in case, and I'll fix that wound. All of you, get in a bed. Yes, you too, Miss. Evans.”

Sirius took the bed next to Remus, who was watching them placidly. Lily lead James to the next bed over, and took the bed between him and Peter. She didn’t bother to change before she wiggled under the blankets, feeling exhaustion settling on her shoulders already.

Madam Pomfrey came out with two glasses of red, thick liquid. She gave one to Sirius and one to James, who just laughed as he chugged the potion. Sirius cringed and Pomfrey pointed at him.

“Drink it, Mr. Black, unless you want your mind dissolved by venom.”

“It might be preferable,” he said, but he downed the rest of the potion in one go.

Madam Pomfrey rolled up Sirius's trouser leg to reveal his wound. Lily moved to get a better look, and guilt flooded her chest when she saw the wound. It was pulsing and red, and she imagined it would feel hot with infection if she touched it. Sirius winked at her, he obviously held no hard feelings.

Madam Pomfrey waved her wand over him head to toe, and all the scratches and bruises on his body magically disappeared. His clothes were still in tatters, and he looked wan and weak, but his skin was smooth and unmarked. His leg wound shrank a little but not much, and Madam Pomfrey magically conjured bandages and ointment. She dressed the wound, and Sirius winced.

She repeated her wand waving over James, who was already seeming more conscious since finishing the potion. He looked at Lily like he wasn't sure where he was, but if she was here he was okay. She gave him a reassuring smile, and he smiled back tentatively.

Madam Pomfrey waved her wand over Lily, too. A feeling of lightness and cleanliness flooded over Lily, like she was floating in a bath of perfect temperature. Aches she hadn't even noticed faded from her muscles, her shoulders relaxed, her smarting scratches faded. When Pomfrey was done, Lily ran her hands over her skin. It felt baby smooth, like she'd been exfoliated and moisturised in a spa. She needed to learn that spell.

“Are you sure you weren't bitten by an acromantula?” Madam Pomfrey asked.

“One hundred percent,” Lily said.

Pomfrey moved on to check on Peter, who was snoozing peacefully. When she was done, she left for her office, and the room fell into silence. Lily looked over at her boys, and they looked back at her.

“Well, we did it,” she said. Survived, found Peter, become lifelong friends, they'd achieved a lot, but she wasn't sure which was most impressive.

“Ugh,” James groaned, “I feel like my head is full of spiders.”

“It almost was,” Remus said.

“Hey, quick question, am I real?” Sirius asked.

“Shut up, you tosser,” James said, and he laughed.

This wasn't a crazy laugh, it was his normal deep laugh, and Lily laughed too. They were safe, they were back in Hogwarts, and they were alive. All of her pent up nerves and fear rolled out in laughter. Remus and Sirius started laughing too. The four of them laughed long and hard. None of it was funny, but it was insane.

“There were no werewolves in the forest,” Lily said.

“Just the one,” Remus corrected.

“I wonder if we should tell Snape to avoid the forest,” Lily said.

“Hell, no. He can go and fall off a cliff for all I care,” James said.

“Agreed,” Sirius and Remus said together.

Lily settled back on her pillows, and stared out the hospital window towards the dark, stormy sky. She wondered how Snape would react if he found out that his plot to annoy Remus had resulted in her kissing James. He probably wouldn't be happy about it.

Lily reminded herself to tell him at some point.

For now, she was just content to be with her boys, safe and sound in the Hospital Wing. The forest may have been trying to separate them and occasionally kill them, but it had brought them closer than before. Without it, would she have found out Sirius was a dog? Or James was a stag? Or Peter was a rat and Remus was a werewolf?

And would her first kiss with James have been as magical if it hadn't been in a giant oak tree?

She rolled her head to face him, and found him watching her. He smiled at her, and she smiled back.

Who was she kidding? The oak hadn't made their first kiss magical, that was all him.

“Do you believe I'm real now?” she asked.

“I might need some convincing,” James said.

Lily glanced over at Madam Pomfrey's office, before sneaking out of her bed. She slipped under the blankets when James held them up for her. He wrapped his arms around her, and she settled in like they were made for her. She pressed her lips against his, and he smiled against her.

“Moony,” Sirius said, “I don't want James and Lily to beat us.”

Lily let out a laugh, and James shook his head, releasing their kiss.

“Come on then,” Remus said.

Lily leaned up over James to see Sirius leave his own bed and limp over to Remus's. He had to avoid jolting Remus's leg as he slipped under the covers. They kissed, and Lily looked away to avoid being a creep.

“Night new best friend,” Sirius said.

“Goodnight best friend,” Lily said.

“I hate this,” James called.

“Shh, Prongs, sleep time,” Remus said.

“Wait, can we all first agree to never, ever, _ever_ go into the forest again? Right here, right now, swear on our lives,” James said.

“I swear,” Lily, Remus, and Sirius said all at once.

James shut his eyes, “You know, when you talk in unison, it doesn't help me believe you're real.”

“Sorry,” the three of them said together, before dissolving into laughter.

“I hate you all,” James said, but he started laughing too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I decided to double post the last two chapters because they make more sense together. 
> 
> I really hope you liked it. This fic was different to my others because there was more of a plot beyond my usual get-together fics. There is one more Marauders WIP i'm currently working on which will probably be uploaded by the time you read this message. 
> 
> Thanks for all your kudos and comments so far, they kept me inspired to post.


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